By 1Lt.
Roel T. Maglalang
The 2nd
Division ManCom Conference with the theme “Achieving Peace through Synergy of
Stakeholders: Together Towards Tomorrow” for the first time discussed the
insurgency problem in this province. The discussion was geared towards the
efforts of the national government in decreasing the problem which was
capsulized by an Executive Order signed by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte
institutionalizing the “Whole of Nation” approach. Lt. Col Molina as Chairman
of Situational Awareness and Knowledge Management (SAKM) also rendered a report
on the effort of the 23IB in encouraging the youth to continue and finish their
studies, which was tagged as Information Education Campaign (IEC). IEC was
conducted to Junior and Senior High School on the following municipalities: Las
Nieves, Buenavista, Nasipit, Carmen, Agusan del Norte including Butuan City.
ManCom was attended by 364 participants which included Supervisors, School
Heads, Guidance Counselor of the DepEd Agusan del Norte.
“To the
teachers especially those who are members of ACT Partylist, please refrain from
recruiting innocent children to join the armed group. Instead be a good role
model to your students for their future depends on how you encourage them to
reach their goals in life. If we fail to do so, we will never find a solution
in ending the decade long insurgency problem of our country," she added.
Lt.
Col. Molina encouraged the teachers to guide the students, to educate them on
the workings of the government, to inform them that the government is
working." He underscored that “the future of our children lies in our
hand, always integrate in your subjects the efforts of our government in
improving their lives. We also hope that you will support the Army’s effort in
protecting the children, their future and their lives, and the effort of the
national government in ending the conflict, which debilitates our country and
destroys the future and lives of our youth and students.”
Matba
appealed to the attendees “let us perform our job properly, let’s walk our
talk, be an exemplar of good governance. Let’s unite, and bond together to save
our youth from the manipulative tactics of this armed group. Working together
and aiming to have peace in our province will ensure that there will be no more
wasted lives of children."
"If
you will be able to save just a single life of a child, it is already a big
contribution to Agusan del Norte. It is only through your commitment that we will
be able to make sure that our students will understand the importance of
family, because this is what the CTGs aimed to destroy, the smallest unit of
the government which is the family, and the very fabric that makes our nation
strong and great,” she added. (CMO Officer, 23IB, Philippine Army/PIA Agusan
del Norte)
Surigao Sur IPs,
leaders welcome establishment of IPED schools
By Lt.
Krisjuper Anreo Punsalan
LIANGA,
Surigao Del Sur, Mar. 10 -- The residents of Sitio Simuwao (Kilometer 9) and
the Lianga Indigenous Peoples’ (IP) Council look forward to the establishment
of the IP Education School in Kilometer 9 to provide quality education for IP
children on June.
“As
leaders of the IP council of Lianga, we have provided Free Prior and Informed
Consent (FPIC) to the government to establish IP schools for the betterment of
our tribe because this is what our tribesmen want,” said Datu Constancio Duhac,
Lianga Tribal Chieftain.
Sitio
Simuwao Chairman Jhunee Salinas expressed his enthusiasm for the planned
development but also requested a military detachment to protect the residents
and the project from Communist NPA Terrorists (CNTs) attacks.
“We are
happy that the government heeded our call to provide us schools but we also
request for the presence of the military to protect us from CNTs’ attacks. They
are against the establishment of the IP schools because they know that all
TRIFPSS students will transfer eventually in the IPED government schools,”
Salinas, said.
The
Tribal Filipino Program of Surigao del Sur or TRIFPSS is a non-government
organization run, non-DepEd accredited private school without a license or
permit to operate, and an alleged CNT hub along with Alternative Learning
Center for Agricultural Development (ALCADEV).
Lianga
IPMR Hawudon Jumar S. Bucales, reacted on Tandag Bishop Raul Dael and Bishop
Emeritus Nereo Odchimar’s contrary remarks on March 6 against their proposed
IPED schools for their tribe saying that IPED government schools are no longer
necessary.
“With
due respect to Bishop Dael and Bishop Odchimar, the IP Council based on our IP
Political Structure (IPS), was the one who spearheaded the request for IP
schools. We hope you could also have a dialogue with the legitimate IP
leadership not only with communist-linked MAPASU so that your perspectives
would be balanced,” Bucales said.
The IP
council also hit Lianga Councilor and Committee Chair on Education Samuel
Dollano for allegedly delaying the approval and signing of the IP leaders’ resolution
for the establishment of IPED schools and the closure of TRIFPSS and ALCADEV.
This is
the reason why the IPs sought the help of the Regional Development Council
(RDC) and the DepEd Caraga Region to craft and approve a resolution for the
establishment of IPED schools under Executive Order No.70; s. 2019 and other
legal provisions, it was learned.
Meanwhile,
the Lianga IP Council mulls on creating a resolution and appeal to the
Provincial and Regional Task Forces on Ending Local Communist Armed Conflict
(ELCAC) to apply moral suasion and/or sanctions to Councilor Nelsur Samuel
Dollano under DILG memorandum order 2018-211 and Republic Act No. 10168 known
as Terrorism Financing and Suppression Act of 2012 for alleged suspicious
transactions with individuals or Non-Government Organizations (NGOs)/Non-Profit
Organizations (NPOs) that are affiliated or related to people suspected of
having connection with a terrorist individual, organization, association or
group of persons. (CMO-3SFBn/PIA-Surigao del Sur)
DILG Caraga hosts
localization activity for EO 70
BUTUAN
CITY, Mar. 10 -- The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Caraga
hosted the conduct of Localization of EO (LEO) 70 Planning Workshop for
Mindanao Cluster on March 5 and 6 in Almont Inland Resort, this city.
The
activity was participated by the heads of DILG regional offices in Mindanao.
DILG Undersecretary for Local Government Marivel C. Sacendoncillo was also
present, together with personnel from the Local Government Academy.
The
said workshop centered on identifying different strategies to be employed in
the localized implementation of EO 70 such as creating services that will
ensure the attainment of peace along with identifying and assessing risks upon
attaining the said goal and identifying the set of indicators that will measure
its success.
Usec.
Sacendoncillo shed light on the reason behind the prevailing existence of
insurgency, explicating that as long as socio-economic issues are not
addressed, Communist Terrorist Groups (CTGs) will continue to exploit the
economically-underprivileged and the cultural minorities in forwarding their
own agenda.
In
addition, she underscored the significance of the Retooled Community Support
Program (RSCP) in which creating a dialogue with the community is deemed as one
of the primary steps in formulating solutions to the communities’ problems.
“You
can bring your ideas and adjust this according to the needs of your region. The
vehicle will be different as we move through this journey from one place to
another,” she added.
To cap
off the activity, the participants had an on-site learning experience in a
Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (PAMANA) project in Brgy. Puting Bato,
Cabadbaran City where they saw firsthand the positive impacts of a community-consulted
government intervention against insurgency.
Implementation
of RCSP
The
implementation of RCSP in the region paved the way for the completion of the
Barangay Development Plans (BDPs) of the 80 priority barangays, enabling the
conduct of community consultations and public validation of the identified
priority projects during the Barangay Assembly to address the governance gaps
of the concerned barangay.
This
paved way for the construction of a farm-to-market road (FMR) in the
geographically isolated, disadvantaged, and conflict-affected areas across the
region and the facilitation of abaca weaving and handicraft making and provide
access to credit (loan assistance) as much as Php 200,000.
(DMR/DILG-Caraga/PIA-Caraga)
