Philippine Army chief Lt. Gen. Roy Galido delivers a speech at the Army headquarters in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City on June 10, 2025. (Photo: Martin Sadongdong / MANILA BULLETIN)

The Philippine Army (PA) is not resting on its laurels as it will not downsize its troop presence in Basilan even after the province was declared free from the threat and influence of the extremist Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG).

Lt. Gen. Roy Galido, PA commanding general, said he wants to maintain the presence of the soldiers to ensure that peace will be sustained in Basilan.

“Will we downsize the Army units there? No, it will remain because we still have this role to sustain the peace, which is very important – sustaining the peace and making sure development will flow in that area. Confidence-building is now in the works,” he said in an interview at the Army headquarters in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City on Tuesday, June 10.

There remain six battalions of Army soldiers in Basilan.

In other provinces in Mindanao, Galido said there is a “minimal” presence of ASG.

“Why do they thrive? As I've said when I was there, it's their lack of opportunity,” said Galido, who also served as the commander of the Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) before being appointed as the Army chief.

“They think that embracing this mindset of radical idealism will provide them this economic opportunity. But what the campaign of the government there, local government has manifested, is that embracing radicalism will not bring in economic opportunity,” he added.

He said the primary challenge now is to bring socio-economic interventions to the people so they would not be swayed to join or support the extremist group.

“Now, once we open it up, I'm 100 percent sure their support system will decrease enormously,” he said.

Basilan, once a haven of the ASG which is notorious for kidnapping and violent attacks, was declared free from the influence and presence of the extremist group last June 9.

The formal declaration is anchored on Resolution No. 01, Series of 2025, passed unanimously during the Joint Meeting of the Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC) and the Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Council (PADAC) held in February.

The Basilan-based 101st Infantry Brigade cited intelligence and operational assessments confirming that “there is no longer any identified organized ASG presence, infrastructure, or influence” in Basilan.

The resolution also acknowledged the successful surrender and reintegration of former ASG members through programs such as E-CLIP and the Balik-Loob Program, as well as the broader gains in local governance, security, and community resilience that dismantled the conditions that once allowed violent extremism to thrive.

“The entity that will benefit more is not the military. It's the local government unit and the province itself,” Galido said about the declaration of the ASG-free status.