DAVAO CITY (PNA) – The Army 10th Infantry Division (ID) has formally declared Davao Occidental as insurgency-free during a ceremony in Malita, Davao Occidental Thursday, Aug. 18.

Major Gen. Nolasco Mempin, Army 10th ID commander, said the declaration was the result of aggressive military and police operations, leading into the collapse of the New People’s Army (NPA) operating in the province.

In particular, Mempin lauded the anti-insurgency campaign of the Army 1002nd Infantry Brigade, the Army 73rd Infantry Battalion, and the Philippine National Police (PNP) field units in the province.

He said NPA Guerilla Front (GF) Tala, which was once active in the peripheries of the province, is considered cleared, based on the parameters set forth by the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the PNP.

Mempin said insurgency issues and concerns were resolved in identified conflict-affected areas and geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas, resulting in the demolition of the Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) in the province.

Meanwhile, Mempin said they are also optimistic to declare the Davao Region insurgency-free on or before Sept. 30.

He said only one NPA unit remains active before Davao Region can be declared insurgency-free, the weakened NPA GF-18 operating in Davao Oriental.

“The Eastern Mindanao Command gave us the timeline to declare the region as insurgency-free until Sept. 30. We are trying our best that it will not reach that deadline for us to dismantle the remaining NPA unit,” Mempin said.

The military, however, said they have already cleared the barangays that were formerly influenced by the NPA GF-18, enabling it to be declared a weakened unit.

“Dismantling the weakened GF 18 in Davao Oriental is just a matter of time,” Mempin said.

He noted that Davao Oriental served as a benchmark for the military’s clearing operations against the NPA in the region.