CAMP ELIAS ANGELES, Pili, Camarines Sur-Bags of rice and additional construction materials were procured and distributed by the Office of the Civil Defense-Bicol (OCD-Bicol) to Catanduanes province barely two weeks after receiving the P7 million donations from the Philippine Army.
Eleven municipalities received the aid last December 31.
In a ceremony last December 20, MGen. Henry A. Robinson, Jr.,PA, commander of 9th Infantry Division (9ID) and Joint Task Force Bicolandia (JTFB) turned-over the check to Director Claudio Yucot of OCD-Bicol.
The amount was generated from the soldiers, including the Spear Troopers, who donated a portion of their mess allowance.
Both the OCD-Bicol and JTFB believe that it will greatly help the Catandunganons who are still recovering from a string of strong typhoons that battered their province last November.
Prior to this, the same effort was also made by 9ID to help fund the construction of houses of 27 informal settler families relocated from Camp Elias Angeles to Sodusta Village in Barangay Caroyroyan, Pili, Camarines Sur.
Spear Troopers voluntarily donated their one-day mess allowance and also provided the labor counterpart in the still on-going house construction.
These undertakings go hand in hand with 9ID’s effective anti-insurgency campaigns which continue to gain momentum in Bicol manifested in the skyrocketing number of surrenderees and successful military engagements.
“The sincerity to extend a hand to those in need runs in the blood of every soldier. We help not because we can but because it is our earnest desire to uplift the living condition of the Bicolanos including our brothers who went astray by joining the terrorist group. May emergency man o wala, laging naririyan ang mga sundalo upang tumulong. Patunay diyan ang tuloy-tuloy nating panawagan sa mga myembro ng Communist Terrorist Group (CTG) na magbalik-loob na sa pamahalaan. We are happy that they are continuously heeding our call,” MGen. Robinson said.
Right now, aside from assisting the former rebels to receive their benefits through the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP), the military is also an active member of the Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF-ELCAC) which also provides additional assistance for the FRs and initiates projects towards an armed conflict-free and progressive region. (PR)

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