The top Army official in the Visayas on Saturday cited the contribution of a private sector advisory body in sustaining the gains in their fight against insurgency in the central Philippines. Visayas Command (Viscom) chief, Lt. Gen. Benedict Arevalo, said the Multi-Sector Advisory Board (MSAB) has assisted the unified command’s commitment to promoting good governance, transparency, and accountability in fulfilling its mission to defeat the Communist Party of the Philippines – New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) in the country’s three central regions. Arevalo said soldiers in the Visayas are guided by his operational philosophy, ‘feared by the enemy, loved by the people,’ in every phase of fulfilling their mission to bring sustainable peace and development. ‘As the reliable Armed Forces in the Visayas region, we should be feared by the enemy and loved by the people. Let’s focus on defeating the enemy and of course to balance this, we should be loved by the people. We cannot defeat them without being loved by the people,’ he said. As he highlighted the role of all the civil-military operations sections and units in the Visayas as “warrior diplomats,” Arevalo said the Viscom would recognize, through awards and medals, their efforts in gaining the hearts and minds of the Visayan people who have contributed a lot in the effort to neutralize the CPP-NPA. On Friday, Arevalo graced the 2nd-quarter MSAB meeting presided by its chairperson, Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma, and attended by its members across various representations. The MSAB consists of members of the academe, project management practitioners, public officials, youth, women, legal professionals, media practitioners, military retirees, and reservists. Palma expressed his full support for the priority programs of the Viscom and highlighted the role of the MSAB in aligning these programs. ‘We are here to see their focus. We are here to know their priority, and we are here to assist in the attainment of that priority,’ he said. Among the mandates of the MSAB is to champion the implementation of the Viscom Transformation Roadmap and provide expert advice.
Source: Philippines News Agency