47th IB recommends delisting

of BPC as among CV threats

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol (PIA)—If things run according to plan, the once-feared Bohol Party Committee (BPC) of the Regional Committee of Central Visayas of the New People’s Army would become a simply a side note in the history following three decades of stunting economic development in Bohol characterized by bloody encounters, assassinations and sabotage to sow fear so they could easily thrive.

This as the 47th Infantry Battalion (47th IB-Katapatan) has announced its intent on pushing for the deletion of the BPC of the among the list of armed threats in Central Visayas, during the recent joint council meetings of the Provincial Peace and Order (PPOC), Development (PDC) and anti drug Abuse Councils (PADAC) a few days ago.

47th IB Katapatan Battalion Executive Officer Major Jayrod Cabahug, speaking in front of council members and his new battalion commander Lieutenant Colonel Dennis Martinez, said they would recommend the deletion of the BPC as among the remaining internal security threats in Central Visayas.

Lt. Col Martinez, whose main unit is based in Negros, also holds authority over the 47th IB, after replacing Colonel Magno Malapad.

The move would make the 35 year old insurgency problem in Bohol bury the enemy in historical records and possibly make the dark history of insurgency in Bohol only an annotation in social studies classes.

It may be recalled that after years of sowing lawlessness and enforcing extortion through fear in Bohol, the BPC of the NPA finally found its match when the government made serious and intelligence-driven offensives.

Left with Central Negros I, Central Negros 2 as well as the PBC as the third Guerilla Front in Central Visayas, the coordinated move to uproot the insurgency problem gained traction when the Provincial government in Bohol, under then governor Erico Aumentado implemented massive poverty alleviation initiatives and started funding livelihood assistance to depressed communities where the NPAs and violent extremists nest.

By 2010, Bohol attained its insurgency-free status, something that Aumentado attained by convergence of the local and national government, civil society and the community, with no less than the Office of the Presidential Assistance on the Peace Process visit to Bohol marking that historic day in February 10.

The next years were still marked by bloody encounters, which the military authorities were all government troops-initiated as the armed rebels continue to lose manpower to peaceful and negotiated surrender to the authorities.

“Ever since Bohol was declared insurgency-free, it has remained such and was never been otherwise. The clashes that occasionally break, are peace maintenance operations,” bared then 302nd Infantry Brigade Deputy Commander Colonel Leeroy Daanton, when asked for comment in these encounters despite Bohol being insurgency free.

The biggest setback of the BPC in Bohol happened when intelligence reports a group of armed men, with the BPC highest official resting in a house in Campagao Bilar, in February last year.

The information led to the police team delivering the arrest warrant for Domingo Compoc, BPC highest official into an ambush, which also forced the joint police and government troops to retaliate, resulting in the killing of five armed rebels who are the remnants of the BPC.

Since then, the BPC has not made any operations, reports Maj. Cabahug during the PPOC, highlighting the one year and four months of lull.

With this, Major Cabahug said his unit would recommend for the immediate deletion of the BPC among the current threats in the Central Visayas, marking a significant milestone in Bohol’s struggle against insurgency.

It is the Peace, Law Enforcement and Development Support cluster who will formalize the recommendation in a resolution to the National Joint Peace and Security Coordinating Council (JPSCC) to finally hammer the final nail to put to rest Bohol’s nagging problem, which would also allow peace and development to finally take root here. (PIABohol)

FULL STEAM FOR DEVELOPMENT. After years upon years of getting interruption from insurgents intent on toppling the government, Maj Jayrod Cabahug said they would finally recommend for the delisting of the Bohol guerrilla front maintained by the Bohol Party Committee as among the existing threats in Central Visayas. (PIABohol)

KATAPATAN. From the 47th IB KATAPATAN Battalion, Bohol Gov Erico Aristotle receives a plaque for partnership with Bohol’s internal security operators for the successful neutralization and rendering the BPC inconsequential enough to initiate offensives. (PIABohol)