A battalion of an elite force of the Philippine Army deployed in Samar province on Sunday.

In a Facebook post, the First Scout Ranger Regiment said the 4th Scout Ranger Battalion arrived at Calbayog Port on December 11.

The battalion was welcomed by 8th Infantry Division led by its commander, Maj. Gen. Camilo Ligayo, at Calbayog Port.

"Present also in the welcome ceremony was the Calbayog City Mayor Raymund Uy who pledged his overall support to the Armed Forces of the Philippines in the fight against insurgency," it stated.

In a television interview on Wednesday, Col. Medel Aguilar, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesman said guerrilla fronts of the New People's Army (NPA) have significantly decreased since 2016 and only five remain active.

Aguilar said out of the five active guerilla fronts, four were located in Samar province and one in Southern Mindanao.

"We would like to announce to the public that we are very successful in the conduct of internal security operations. In fact from the 89 guerrilla fronts that we had in 2016, this was reduced to just 24 and only five of them are active, the 19 others are weakened already," he said.

"We are looking at around 154 barangay who are still affected by communist armed conflict and we are focusing our focused military operation also so that they can be free from the influence of the CPP," he added.

Aguilar said the military is intensifying community support programs in the areas still affected by insurgency "to bring in the right intervention that will address the root cause" of the armed conflict. Robina Asido/DMS