36 barangays in Davao region declared insurgency-free —military

A total of 36 barangays in Davao City as well as in the province of Davao del Norte have been declared insurgency-free, peaceful, and conflict-resilient communities.

Brigadier General Ernesto Torres, commander of the 103rd Bigade, on Saturday said that the Area Clearing Validation Board (ACBV), composed of military and police officers of the city and the province, declared late this week the 36 barangays free from insurgents.

The 21 insurgency-free barangays in Davao City include:

• Barangays Alambre, Bangkas Heights, Bato, Bayabas, Eden, Marapangi, Mulig, Sirawan and Tagurano of Toril; Riverside and Sirib of Calinan;
• Carmen, Tawan-tawan and Baguio Proper of Baguio;
• Bantol, Buda and Marilog Proper of Marilog; and
• Angalan, Manambulan, New Carmen and Tagakpan of Tugbok.

Meanwhile, the 15 barangays of Davao Del Norte include: 

• Buenavista, Consolacion, Katipunan, Katualan, Kauswagan, Kiotoy, Upper Licanan, Little Panay, Mabunao, Malativas, San Nicholas, San Roque, Sta Cruz, Tagpore and Waterfalls —all of Panabo City.

ACVB members unanimously declared the 36 barangays have met the parameters for the clearing of insurgency-affected barangays that includes:

• the dismantling of CPP-NPA politico-military structure;
• the denial of CPP-NPA access to the area, resources, and manpower; and
• the establishment of a functioning barangays information net and integrated community public safety system, among others 

Torres said that the successful clearing was mainly achieved through an 8-month Community Support Team deployment of the military in those areas, in close collaboration with the police, barangay officials and the City Government both of Davao City and Panabo City. —LBG, GMA News