ARMED Forces of the Philippines chief of staff General Romeo S. Brawner Jr. commended the Eastern Mindanao Command (EastMinCom) for its outstanding achievements, including the killing, surrender, and arrest of more than 1,000 rebels during his visit to the headquarters on Sept. 29.
Based on EastMinCom’s records, the command already neutralized 1,602 CPP-NPA terrorists (CNTs), composed of 1,266 surrendered, 179 captured, and 157 killed since January 2023. Soldiers also captured 1,601 firearms (1,313 high-powered and 288 low-powered) during the same period.
The command also seized 260 anti-personnel mines (APMs) and dismantled 16 guerilla fronts, six vertical units, two independent platoons, and five sub-regional committees (SRCs), from the incumbent of LtGen. Almerol up to the present date.
In his message, Brawner praised the collective effort and victory of EastMinCom under the leadership of Almerol in sustaining peace and security in the Davao Region.
“I would like to congratulate the members of the Eastern Mindanao Command and our component units, the Army, Navy, and Air Force, for all the accomplishments you have achieved. I am very happy and very proud of all of you.”
In response, EastMinCom Commander LtGen. Almerol expressed his gratitude to the chief of staff, AFP for the visit and the words of wisdom shared.
He affirmed their unwavering commitment to safeguarding the people of Eastern Mindanao and addressing the insurgency.
Almerol welcomed and accorded the AFP chief with traditional military honors upon his arrival alongside the Unit Commanders, Officers, Enlisted Personnel, and Civilian Human Resources of the Command.
The visit featured a “Talk to Troops” session led by General Brawner, where he stressed the significance of unity among EastMinCom’s personnel.
He encapsulated this unity with “U” for Unification, “N” for Normalization in the Bangsamoro Region, “I” for Internal Security Operations, “T” for Territorial Defense, and “Y” for fostering the Youth as defenders of the next generation.
The meeting was attended by LtGen. Almerol alongside the Commanders of Joint Task Force (JTF) Agila, JTF Seahawk, JTF Haribon, Commander of Tactical Operation Wing-Eastern Mindanao (TOW-EM), Task Force Davao, Commander of Joint Special Operations Force 1 (JSOF1), Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Civil-Military Operations, J7, Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel, J1 and EastMinCom Officers.
