TACLOBAN CITY – The Municipal Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict and the Municipal Peace and Order Council of Pinabacdao, Samar declared the municipality under a State of Stable Internal Peace and Security Condition (SIPSC) on Tuesday, April 8.
The status was declared under Sangguniang Bayan Resolution Number 25-014, Series of 2025, after the municipality met all the parameters set by the joint AFP-PNP committee regarding the peace and security situation in the area.
Based on the resolution, the internal peace and security spectrum is composed of four stages: insurgency, conflict-manageable, suppressed insurgency, and stable internal peace and security.
Under the SIPSC stage, the municipality was categorized as cleared and unaffected and relatively peaceful.
The absence of NPA-related violence for more than three years in the municipality played a vital factor in the declaration.
Pinabacdao had been one of the hotbeds of insurgency in Samar.
In 2023, there were 11 active NPA members who were residents of Pinabacdao. Only three were left after the surrender of eight as a result of the localized peace engagement activities of the MTF- ELCAC.
The province’s high poverty incidence – estimated at 24.9 percent, the highest in Eastern Visayas in 2024 – was one of the main causes of insurgency.
Brig. Gen. Noel Vestuir, commander of the 802nd Infantry (Peerless) Brigade, attributed the success of the municipality’s internal peace and security campaign to the active collaboration of the members of the MTF-ELCAC in addressing the cause of insurgency.
“The declaration of the insurgency's end in what was once a hotbed of violence in the province of Samar is a significant milestone for Pinabacdao in terms of achieving internal peace and security. This development is expected to attract more investors and local entrepreneurs, leading to new business ventures and a boost in local tourism,” Vestuir said.
Vestuir vowed that the Army would continue to secure the municipality despite the declaration of stable internal peace security status.