THE February 29 encounter in Bilar between troops from the Philippine Army’s 47th Infantry Battalion and an estimated 15 members of the communist New People’s Army (NPA) was more bad news for a Bohol hard hit by the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic. The provincial government has been putting up a brave face to preserve Bohol’s image as a peaceful tropical paradise, maintaining that Bohol remains insurgency-free.

Insurgency-free the province may be — based on official parameters. Indeed, the number of incidents involving the NPA is modest. As far as military and civilian government authorities at regional level are concerned, in Central Visayas only Negros Oriental is “conflict-affected”: “Currently, there are 16 identified conflict-affected and vulnerable barangays in Region 7, which are all located in Negros Oriental,” said Secretary Michael Dino, presidential assistant for the Visayas, as he welcomed proposals for projects that would address insurgency in the Central Visayas (Philippine News Agency, Feb. 20, 2020).