61st IB strengthens capability, skills
In a bid to strengthen its skills and competence, the Philippine Army’s 61st Infantry Battalion will undergo a three-month Unit Enhancement Training starting this week at the 3rd Infantry Division headquarters at Camp Macario Peralta Jr. in Jamindan, Capiz.
Based in Brgy. Tiling, Cauyan, Negros Occidental, the 400-man battalion commanded by Lt. Colonel Ricardo Bayhon operates in central and southwest Negros.
The unit currently confronts the Kilusang Larangan South West of the Komiteng Rehiyon-Negros under the leadership of priest turned rebel Frank Fernandez.
First Lt. Mark Andrew Posadas, spokesman of 3rd ID, said the training aims not only to enhance the skills of the soldiers in counter-insurgency but also to test the effectiveness of the unit’s ability to accomplish missions in the non-conventional warfare setting,
“The Division hopes to make the 61st IB a more capable unit by providing them with new techniques and procedures through this training,” he said.
The 61st IB will be the first occupants of the Division’s Battalion Retraining Facility in Camp Peralta that was inaugurated last May. The BRF is composed of four buildings that serve as barracks and classrooms for our soldiers undergoing retraining.
Maj. Gen. Vicente Porto, 3rd ID commanding general, said the training is a regular and necessary activity aimed to sharpen the unit’s response to threats of insurgency in the region.
The Task Group Southwest, headed by Lt. Col. Rodrigo Sosmeña, which incorporates the 3rd ID’s three Reconnaissance Units and supported by the newly-organized 3rd Civil Military Operations Battalion, will take over the Negros post until the 61st IB completes the training. The unit will be under the operational supervision of the 303rd Infantry Brigade of Col. Maximo Caro.
“The insurgents will most likely take advantage of the situation which is why we have formed the Task Group Southwest to continue the 61st IB’s counter-insurgency operations while they are away from their area of operations,” Porto said.*
