From January to October this year, no fewer than 99 barangays and 15 municipalities on Leyte island were ravaged by 802nd IB combat operations. The 14th IB, 93rd IB, 8th CMO Battalion, and police assisted in the operations.

Combat operations covered 10 towns in Leyte province, including Baybay City, which in February was categorized as under a Stable Internal Peace and Security Condition (SIPSC) to project that the people’s army no longer had forces in the area. Barangay Caraye in Javier, and barangays Igang and Hilapnitan in Baybay City, were placed under hamlet in September.

Five Southern Leyte towns were militarized, including Saint Bernard, which was also categorized as SIPSC in March.

Residents said relentless intimidations occur whenever the military is in the villages. They are forcibly sent home early from their fields. They are threatened with arrest and imprisonment if they support the people’s army. The military also confiscated firearms used by residents for hunting.

The military’s most recent crimes on the island was the arrest of a farmer named “Loloy” from Barangay Masuganao, Mahaplag, Leyte. He was accused of being a New People’s Army member.