Eight more barangays in Davao City are cleared of New People’s Army influence following a validation conducted on Sep 16, 2019 at the 3rd Infantry Battalion headquarters in Barangay Malagos, Baguio District.
Col. Nolasco Mempin, the commander of 1003rd Infantry Brigade, identified the barangays as Baracatan, Catigan, Tibuloy and Tungkalan of Toril District; Tambobong of Baguio District; Tamayong of Calinan District; Talandang of Tugbok District; and Tapak of Paquibato District.
With the addition of the eight newly cleared barangays, Mempin said Davao City is left with only five NPA-influenced barangays at present.
The declaration was the result of the screening by the Joint AFP-PNP Area Clearing Validation Board comprised of personnel of the 10th Infantry Division and Police Regional Office XI. Their task is to check if the barangays have passed the standards set forth by the Joint Letter Directive Number 3, Series of 2019 which prescribes the parameters of a cleared barangay.
The Area Clearing Validation Board is chaired by Brig. Gen. Rodolfo B. Lavadia Jr, the assistant division commander of the 10th Infantry Division.
An area is declared clear if the political-military structure of the CPP-NDF-NPA is dismantled; existing organizations in sitios and puroks are insulated from the insulation of the communist group; local issues exploited by the NPA are also addressed; and barangay-based structures are established to deny NPA access.
Based on the records of the 1003rd Infantry Brigade, 26 barangays in the region have already been cleared of the NPA while 31 are still affected. Of the total, five are in Davao City.
