Quirino province, now free from insurgency
CABARROGUIS, Quirino– By virtue of Resolution Number 145, Series of 2022 issued by the Provincial Council on Oct. 10, 2022, Quirino was declared an Insurgency-free Province and in a State of Stable Internal Peace and Security, the declaration was held during the birthday celebration of Gov. Dakila Carlo Cua on Nov. 4, 2022, at the Capitol Gymnasium here with the presence of BGen. Audrey Pasia, commander of the 5th Infantry Division and BGen. Danilo Benavides, commander of the 502nd Infantry Brigade.
During the program, Gen. Pasia and BGen. Benavides awarded a Certificate of Recognition to Gov. Cua as recognition of his significant support to the Armed Forces of the Philippines Regional Task for to End Local Communist Armed Group; and Peace, Law Enforcement and Development Support Cluster Region 2 to end the insurgency problem. His effort was said to have paved the way for the province to successfully gain independence from insurgency.
In an interview, BGen. Benavides said that in February 2021 the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police has affirmed the dismantling of the Quirino-Nueva Vizcaya Guerilla Front. He said that after intensive monitoring and observation of the movement of the Communist Terrorist Group (CTG) which took a year and a half, no activity involving them was recorded. Thus, he and PCol. Rommel Rumbaoa, Director of the Provincial Police Station released a Joint Report for Quirino to declare its independence from the insurgency.
The Province of Quirino has six municipalities- Aglipay, Cabarroguis, Diffun, Maddela, Nagtipunan, and Saguday. It is the first province in Region 2 to be declared an “insurgency-free province”.
BGen. Benavides eyes Nueva Vizcaya and Isabela to achieve the same accomplishment before 2022 ends. He also confirmed that based on his assessment, there are no recorded presence of CTGs and related incidents in the Area of Responsibility of 502IB. He said that the people’s faith in the government and their denial of support to the NPA contributed a lot to the dismantling of the rebellious group.# MAE BARANGAN
