“We will give them a taste of their own medicine,” 79th Infantry “Masaligan” Battalion commanding officer Col. Nestor Porlucas said of the strategy the army will use in running after New People's Army rebels in Negros Oriental.

Porlucas said the military is asking some people to withdraw their moral support to the NPA, and refrain from extending guerillas financial and material backing.

He also said many were victims of rebellion during the height of the insurgency problem in early 1970s, because even some politicians supported the rebel movement.

Now it is a different ball game, people in the countrysides are already equipped with the necessary information, and local government units are the ones requesting the army's presence, Porlucas claimed.

He stressed that militarization had been the slogan of the NPA every time troopers are deployed in the countrysides.

“We're used to it,” he said, adding that in Antique and Bohol , the 79th IB men are loved by the people and feared by the enemy. “We hope the same will happen in Negros Oriental,” he said.

Porlucas assured Negrenses that he will not tolerate abuses within the ranks of the 7th IB. For one, his wife hails from Bayawan City , he said.

Earlier, militant groups criticized the massive deployment of troops, which they said, was designed to get rid of them.

Trelly Marigza of Gabriela partylist group, said the deployment of troops was meant to protect the interests of businessmen and politicians.

The Tamlang Valley in Southern Negros Oriental has been considered as a zone of peace and site of jatropha plantation for processing into biodiesel.

Questions were raised as to why a portion of the Tamlang Valley was leased to a prominent businessman in the third district, and which is now a subject of possible investigation by the Senate, Marigza said.* JG

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