Camp Capinpin, Tanay, Rizal–Batangas province was declared as the third province in Calabarzon region with Stable Internal Peace and Security (SIPS) after it successfully met the parameters set under the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ phases of normalization, specifically on the absence of recorded New People’s Army (NPA) violent activities for at least one year.
A Memorandum of Agreement was signed by Gov. Hermilando Mandanas and Maj. Gen. Greg Almerol, Commander of 2nd Infantry Division (2ID), during the Provincial Peace and Order Council meeting held yesterday at the Batangas Provincial Capitol.
The meeting was attended by mayors and representatives from government agencies as well as military and police commanders operating in the province.
Gov. Mandanas thanked the different agencies, soldiers, and police personnel who remained committed to its mandate of helping the province in assuring peace, prosperity, and development.
The ceremony also saw the presentation of surrendered firearms and distribution of food packs to seven former rebels who were earlier granted monetary support amounting to Php 455,000, as well as medical services among other benefits under the government’s Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP).
Gen. Almerol said “the government’s desire to end insurgency through the Provincial Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (PTF-ELCAC) of Batangas made the impossible possible for the people we have sworn to serve.”
Batangas became the fifth province in the 2ID area of responsibility to be declared as SIPS following Cavite on December 4, 2018, Romblon on February 21, 2019, Marinduque on March 25, 2019, and Laguna on September 26, 2019.