Joint Declaration of Pangasinan as insurgency-free held July 12

Joint Declaration of Pangasinan as insurgency-free held July 12

Lingayen---Gov. Amado T. Espino, Jr. has expressed great enthusiasm as he accepted the primary responsibility of taking the lead role to fight off insurgency in Pangasinan last July 12 during the Joint Declaration of Pangasinan as insurgency- free and Hand-Over of the ISO Lead Role at the Narciso Ramos Sports and Civic Center here.

Gov. Espino said he was very happy that the province, together with the Provincial Police Office (PPO), is now taking over the insurgency lead role even as he said that during his time with Philippine National Police (PNP), he was very much involved in dealing with the problem of insurgency in Pangasinan.

P/Sr. Supt. Percival Barba who formally declared that Pangasinan is now free from insurgency revealed that in 2006, there were 76 barangays in the province with the presence of communist terrorists (CTs), but to date Barba revealed that said areas now have a zero rate of insurgency.

The joint declaration was signed by Gov. Espino, Major Gen. Ireneo Espino of the 7th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army and Police Superintendent Percival Barba, Provincial Director of the PPO.

The signing was witnessed by Col. Leonido Bongcawil, Col. Felicito Virgilio M. Trinidad, Jr., Mr. Domiciano Soriano, Jr. of DILG, SP Chairman Amadeo T. Espino , MGEN Gaudencio Pangilinan, NOLCOM commander represented by Col. Perez, and PCSupt Orlando Mabutas, represented by Col. Manuel Cachero.

Meanwhile, General Ireneo Espino thanked Gov. Espino, members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, the mayors, peace and order council members and the people of Pangasinan for finally accepting the handover of the insurgency lead role.

He said the transfer sees the vision of a peaceful, progressive, tourism and economic center province under the governance of Gov. Espino who is also the chairman of the Provincial Peace and Order Council in Pangasinan.

As this developed, Gov. Espino has called on the people from the formerly infested areas to work together for the growth and development of their barangays.

With this recent development, the Governor proudly noted that foreign investors who used to visit other places like Baguio and Clark have started flocking to the province expressing keen interest in establishing various investments in Pangasinan.

He said this is the first time that foreign investors visited remote barangays to look for possible locations for their investment projects. (PIO/Angeline D. Villanueva)