Romblon province declared insurgency-free —police official

The anti-insurgency campaign in Mimaropa (Region 4B) has reached a significant milestone with the declaration of the province of Romblon "insurgency-free," a police official said Saturday.

Mimaropa Regional Police's Chief Superintendent Tomas Apolinario told Super Radyo dzBB's Sam Nielsen that the province has been declared insurgency-free —the second province to be declared as such in the entire country, following the lead of Region 4A's Cavite province.

ATM: Police Chief Supt. Tomas Apolinario , Direktor ng PNP Region 4B (MIMAROPA Region) kaugnay ng insurgency situation sa MIMAROPA.

— DZBB Super Radyo (@dzbb) February 23, 2019

Region 4B or Mimaropa (composed of the provinces of Mindoro Oriental, Mindoro Occidental, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan) is now focused on the province of Marinduque, which is likely to be also declared insurgency-free.

Apolinario said that an area is declared insurgency-free if the following indicators are present: absence of any activities by communist insurgents, no reported cases of harassment and extortion incident, and the absence of communities or groups supporting the rebels.

"Sa whole Mimaropa, siguro mga 80 na lamang sila (New People's Army geurrilas). Tinutukan natin ngayon ang indigenous peoples. Dun sila nagpo-focus ng recruitment activities nila," Apolinario said.

While occasional encounters with the rebels erupt in the region, such incidents are very few.

He cited the skirmish in Oriental Mindoro where two insurgents were killed. Also, he said that a police-initiated encounter erupted this Saturday at 5 a.m. No casualty has so far been reported, but a pursuit operation is ongoing.

According to him, police operatives were acting on a community report of sightings of armed men in Occidental Mindoro on Friday evening.

On Saturday morning, police elements spotted the rebels and engaged them in a firefight.

But generally, communist rebels' activities in the region has greatly declined.

Moreover, he said that a total of 14 rebels have already availed of the government's program for rebel returnees. —LBG, GMA News