8th Infantry Division
"Storm Troopers"
The Area of Responsibility of the 8th Infantry Division, Philippine Army covers the whole of Eastern Visayas (Islands of Samar, Leyte and Biliran). It comprises of 6 provinces, 4 cities, 139 municipalities and 4,421 barangays (or 10 percent of the total barangays nation wide). It had a total registered population of 3.9 million as of 2000 census and a land area of 21,431.7 square kilometers, which represented 7.2% of the country's total land area.
The 8th Infantry Division has 3 Tactical Brigades, the 801st, 802nd, and 803rd Infantry Brigades. These brigades have 9 Infantry Battalions, the 14th, 19th, 20th, 34th, 43rd, 46th, 52nd, 62nd and 63rd Infantry Battalions. The 801st Infantry Brigade was based in Camp Eugenio Daza, Brgy Fatima, Hinabangan, Samar, which covers the whole of Eastern Samar and southern parts of Samar from Hinabangan down to Marabut with 14th Infantry Battalion, 34th Infantry Battalion and 62nd Infantry Battalion as its maneuver units. The 802nd Infantry Brigade was based in Brgy Abuyugon, Burauen, Leyte, which covers the 3 provinces of Leyte, Southern Leyte, and Biliran with 43rd Infantry Battalion and 19th Infantry Battalion as its maneuver units. The 803rd Infantry Brigade was based in Camp Sumoroy, Catarman, Northern Samar covers the entire province of Northern Samar and northern parts of Samar from Paranas upward to Calbayog City with 20th Infantry Battalion, 46th Infantry Battalion, and 63rd Infantry Battalion. The 3 Division Reconnaissance Companies (81st, 82nd, and 83rd Reconnaissance Companies) were often placed under the operational control of these brigades, as were other supporting units from other commands.
The 8th Infantry "Storm Troopers" Division, Philippine Army traces its roots from the 8th Infantry Brigade (Separate) of the Philippine Army. which was organized pursuant to General Orders Number 123, General Headquarters, AFP dated 26 May 1986.
The Brigade was first based in Brgy Santol, San Miguel, Leyte and its AOR covered the whole of Eastern Visayas of Region 8 composed of 6 provinces, 3 of which were in Samar Island, 2 in Leyte and one in Biliran Province.
The 8th Infantry Brigade (Separate), Philippine Army drew its personnel and equipage from the 3rd Infantry Division, Philippine Army. It was initially composed of 2 Tactical Brigades, the 1/8th Infantry Brigade and the 2/5th Infantry Brigade with 6 Battalions (the 19th, 20th, 34th, 43rd, 52nd and 56th Infantry Battalions).
With Samar Island as the center of gravity and for better command and control, the 8th Infantry Brigade (Separate) transferred its headquarters from Brgy Santol, San Miguel, Leyte to Camp Lukban, Maulong, Catbalogan, Samar on 17 October 1987. Shortly after, the 56th Infantry Battalion was shipped to Metro Manila for retraining with the 14th Infantry Battalion as its replacement.
On 1 August 1988, the 8th Infantry Brigade (Separate), Philippine Army was posted as a regular Division pursuant to General Orders Number 471, General Headquarters, AFP dated 2 August 1988.
In 1992, 8th Infantry Division declared a unilateral SOMO (suspension of offensive military operations) and launched the "UP-UP Samar Island" movement. This thrust had numerous programs that encouraged the remnants of the communist rebels to surrender. These programs were "The Journey to the Future", a trip of Samareños residing in Manila or Balikbayans towards Borongan, Eastern Samar, the information caravan, athletic competitions, medical civic actions, healthy baby contests and socio-economic programs such as reforestration, hogs and poultry raising.
The Army in Region 8 gradually regained the people's faith, trust and confidence even as the CPP/NPA political infrastructures continued to suffer irreparable damages, which setback their timetable for victory by about 10 years. The insurgency confronting the Island of Samar continued to decline due to the Command's massive sustained operations.
46th Infantry Battalion was activated and organized on 1 April 2003 pursuant to General Order Number 146, Headquarters, Philipppine Army dated 6 March 2003 and was operationally controlled by the Division Headquarters. On 28 June 2003, the 14th Infantry Battalion was pulled-out from Jolo, Sulu and redeployed to 8th Infantry Division AOR to reinforce the thinly disperse forces in the region.
After 8 years in Mindanao, the 62nd Infantry Battalion arrived in 8th Infantry Division AOR on 16 August 2003. Upon arrival, the Battalion underwent a one month refresher training at Camp Daza, Bgy Fatima, Hinabangan, Samar. It was planned to be placed under the operational control of the 801st Infantry Brigade upon completion of training.
As force multiplier, the Command was controlling 2,262 CAAs composed of 40 CAA companies deployed strategically in the AOR. One special CAA company was deployed in PASAR, Isabel, Southern Leyte.
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