Gapay orders maximum military efforts vs. guerilla fronts

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief-of-staff, Lt. Gen. Gilbert Gapay. (PNAFile photo)

MANILA – Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief-of-staff, Lt. Gen. Gilbert Gapay, ordered all military commanders to intensify their efforts in dismantling guerilla fronts of communist terrorists aside from sustaining external defense missions.

“In order to address the challenges of our campaign against the communist terrorist group, I direct our commanders to focus on the dismantling of the enemy’s so-called guerilla fronts,” he said in a statement late Sunday.

Gapay made the announcement following the AFP’s dismantling of eight guerilla fronts in the first three quarters of the year – three in Mindanao, two in Visayas, and three in Luzon.

The AFP also prevented eight already dismantled guerilla fronts from recovering this year.

In the third quarter, Gapay said a total of 102 barangays were also cleared of the enemy’s armed and propaganda units while, 93 key leaders and high-value targets, along with 12 finance officers, were also neutralized.

AFP units were able to capture 44 assorted firearms through the discovery of arms cache, 1,824 anti-personnel mines, and 141 communist terrorists’ hideouts.

“The AFP has achieved significant gains in our campaigns in the areas of internal security and external defense.

I urge everyone to continue to exert utmost effort and dedication in the performance of respective tasks towards the accomplishment of our mandate,” he said.

He also lauded military commanders for the efficient management of their personnel, who, despite the on-going pandemic and AFP containment efforts, were still able to perform their respective duties in internal security operations.

“I direct everyone to continue the careful management of personnel health protection to ensure the long-term readiness of our organization,” he added.