BORONGAN CITY- Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana disclosed that the government is mulling of creating at least 10 new Army battalions.
And with the creation of new battalions, battalions from the region earlier deployed to Mindanao would be sent back to their respective mother units.
Lorenzana made this announcement during his attendance of the 37th meeting of the Samar Island for Peace, Prosperity and Development (SIPPAD) held here Tuesday (Oct.3).
SIPPAD is a group of non-political and multi-sectoral organization spearheaded by the dioceses of Calbayog, Catarman, and Borongan.
Lorenzana said that the creation of the new battalions will further bolster the campaign of the government against terror groups particularly operating in Mindanao.
“There was an imbalance in the past years because some of the troops were sent to Mindanao. But we were able to get approval from the President to increase the population of our soldiers with additional 10,000 more this year,” the Defense Secretary said.
At present, the government is waging months-long battle with the Maute terror group in Marawi City.
Four military battalions from the 8th Infantry Division, based in Catbalogan City, were deployed in Mindanao to help the government campaign against terroristic groups like the Abu Sayyaf and recently the ISIS-inspired Maute group.
These are the 63rd Infantry Battalion (IB); 34th IB, 46th IB, all in Samar provinces and the 19th IB from Leyte.
The deployment of these Army battalions outside the region has raised an alarm from governors, in particular.
They claimed that this would affect the region’s peace and order as it continues to battle with the outlawed New People’s Army. (ROEL T. AMAZONA)
