Philippine Army implements new AFP Internal Peace Security Plan

The Philippine Army has started implementing the newly launched Internal Peace Security Plan (IPSP) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, focusing its efforts of a more humane and non-traditional approach in taming the decades-old insurgency in the country.

The Army's 82nd Infantry Battalion under Lt. Col. George Joel N. Lalaquil is one of the first groups that is currently implementing the IPSP in Western Visayas.

Personnel from the battalion had undergone special training in Camp Monteclaro in Miag-ao, Iloilo.

The IPSP strategy is winning the peace and not just crushing the enemy through education of out-of-school youth and adults, particularly those in the hinterlands where insurgency thrives.

Soldiers who underwent special training in teaching will help the personnel from the Department of Education in conducting the Alternative Learning System (ALS), which is aimed at providing alternative pathway of learning for out-of-school youth and adults who are basically literate but who have not completed the 10-year basic education mandated by the Philippine Constitution.

The graduates will be deployed at the insurgency affected communities within the operational area of the 82nd Infantry Battalion in Iloilo and Antique provinces.

The ALS will lessen, if not eradicate, the illiteracy of the populace that is usually being taken advantage by New People’s Army (NPA) rebels. Moreover, educating the poor people will help alleviate their economic condition, which is among the root causes of insurgency.

The IPSP is being implemented by the AFP in partnership with stakeholders -- the national and local government agencies, non-government entities and the entire citizenry in addressing peace and security concerns, particularly in containing threat groups. (PNA/PIA9-BST)