PUERTO PRINCESA CITY—An additional Marine battalion will be deployed to the southern part of Palawan to beef up security in the area against communist rebels and illegal loggers.

The deployment of Marine Battalion Landing Team-12 (MBLT-12) is in response to the request of the local chief executives in the southern municipalities of Palawan.

General Juancho Sabban, commander of the Western Command (Wescom) said “the arrival of the additional marine battalion does not mean that they are going to launch a massive military offensive in the province.”

“The additional troops are here primarily to keep the province secure and safe from the insurgent groups and from their activities that disrupt the peace of the place,” Sabban said.

Sabban, together with Commodore Edgardo Tamayo of the Naval Forces West, welcomed the solders when they arrived last week at the Tidepole Detachment Beaching Area in Puerto Princesa City.

Major Neil Anthony Estrella, public information officer of Wescom said, “the purpose of the deployment of the additional Marine battalion is to increase the visibility of soldiers in remote areas, particularly in the southern part of the province, as much to deter insurgent activities as to reach out to the people.”

The Marine team, under Colonel Raul Jesus Caldez, will set a detachment camp in Barangay Abo-Abo in the municipality of Sofronio Española.