Layug leaves 301st IB, Ordoyo takes over
Brigadier Gen. Gerardo Layug, who headed the Iloilo-based 301st Infantry Brigade, yesterday turned over his post to Col. Cesar Ronie Ordoyo.
The change of command, presided by Maj. General Vicente Porto, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, was held at Camp Hernandez in Dingle, Iloilo.
Layug, who will assume as deputy commander of Western Mindanao Command based in Zamboanga City, said he is leaving with most of Panay Island free from rebel influence.
In the last two years, no rebel sightings were reported in Aklan, he said.
Layug said that Antique is also free from internal security operations except for the upland areas of Sibalom and San Remegio where the Philippine Army maintains regular troops, along with holding forces spread in other areas.
In Iloilo, the Army is now concentrating their operations in the municipalities of Igbaras, Leon, and Tubungan.
“Majority of the areas in Iloilo are ISO-free,” Layug said.
In Capiz, majority of the areas are considered free from rebel influence except the towns of Tapaz and Maayon.
Guimaras province is already considered insurgency-free, he added.
For his part, Ordoyo, who is Layug’s mistah in the Philippine Military Academy, urged all stakeholders in his area of responsibility to rally behind him in making Panay even more peaceful.
“It won’t happen overnight but at least we’ve set the ground rules for our future,” he said.*
