Rey Anthony Chiu
TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, May 18, 2012 (PIA) –Central Visayas continues to be peaceful following what the military called a failure of the Communist Party of the Philippines New Peoples Army National Democratic Front (CNN) to realize their five-year plan of recovering their operations in Cebu and Bohol.
Military authorities however noted few sectoral activities associated with the left focusing on instigating unrest by capitalizing on conventional and socio-economic issues.
The Army Central Command (Centcom) in Central Visayas proved this by showing a chart that showed a decline in the activities in Central Visayas.
During the recent Regional Peace and Order Council meeting in Cebu last week, the military authorities also said that the provinces of Cebu and Bohol remain peaceful with no CNN related activities monitored.
Negros Oriental however still continues to bear the scourge as the CNN continue exploiting political and soci-economic issues to rouse unrest, according to the military presentation during the meeting.
At the meeting, Centcom said political cadres and leaders of the legal front organiozations continue its presence in Visayas urban center.
Mass protest actions will continue to be carried out in urban centers as legal fronts continue to exploit local issues and elevate them to the national level to gain media mileage, its assessment for the region states.
Cebu, Bohol, Negros Oriental and Siquijor compose Central Visayas.
Since 2010, when declared insurgency free, the military has relinquished its position as lead in internal security operations for both Cebu and Bohol and had turned over the task to the police and the local governments.
Since then also, the military stressed that partnerships, participation and cooperation among LGUs could prevent the re-entry of the fleeing insurgents.
There is a need for aggressive legal actionb to counter these sectoral undertakings and above-ground agitations, according to Centcom.
Bohol then forged a strong partnership with the local government units, local government agencies, the army and the police to address the problem, points out Lt. Col Romeo Brawner, commanding officer of the Army special forces here.
Beyond that, Bohol also unleashed its peace and prosperity teams to address the issues now being capitalized by instigating sectors, explains Col John Bonafos, during a forum with the media at the Mansion recently.