They say the road to peace IS THE ROAD ITSELF.
Yes, many local government officials admit insurgency develops and breeds like a fully nurtured seed in a fertile soil where roads are abandoned, because people felt neglected and development is wanting.
That same problem has been the weapon of the government in fighting the communists through the Executive Order No. 70 or the law institutionalizing the whole-of-nation approach in attaining inclusive and sustainable peace.
In Southern Mindanao, the Eastern Mindanao Command is taking the lead for this campaign. Newsline has asked the Eastmincom how they fare in realizing the tall order of ending insurgency problems.
Eastmincom Spokesperson Ezra Balagtey said for Calendar Year 2019, the Eastern Mindanao Command has been relentless and focused on its mandate of securing the communities and contributes to the overall end state of the Government of ending the local communist armed conflict.
Balagtey added that they have achieved with the support of other partners and stakeholders and have seen it with improved security landscape in the Area of Responsibility of Eastern Mindanao Command.
Based on the recorded atrocities perpetrated by the CTGs from 1st quarter 2018 to this date there is a downward slope per quarter with 45 atrocities recorded on the first quarter of 2018 (1Q18), 38 in 2Q19, 46 in 3Q19, 28 in 4Q19, 23 in 1Q19, 24 in 2Q19, 17 in 3Q19 down to nine for this quarter.
Comparing the number of attrocities in 2018 which has 157 with this year (2019) which has a recorded 73 attrocities. There is a reduction of 53.5 %. This can be attributed to the surrender of 696 regular NPA members, the arrest of 85 and the death of 56 others during encounters.
The reduction of their firearms according to Balagtey was also a factor. The officer also elaborated saying that for the year, a total of 689 Firearms were surrendered while 364 were captured during encounters. Furthermore, the improved security situation according to him, is also attributed to continuous loss of mass base and space as 6,283 mass supporters or members of the underground mass organization dissociated and severed their ties with the CTGs.
As of this time, nine (9) municipalities, four (4) cities, 46 municipalities, and 24 organizations in the whole area of EMC declared the CTG as persona non grata which forced them to be mobile and consolidate in the political boundaries of Provinces.
”For the year, our units were relentless in their Focus Military Operations and were able to respond to the information fed by the communities particularly those who declared the CTGs as persona non grata” Balagtey said. With these, it led to 275 armed encounters with the CTGs and the discovery of 302 hideouts all over the AOR.
However, there are 17 soldiers, 15 members of the CAFGU Active Auxiliary and three PNP members who paid the ultimate sacrifice in our pursuit of a peaceful community.
Relative to Violent Extremism, programs, activities and security operations were carried out by the different units in coordination with other security agencies, academe, religious groups, Local Government Units, and other peace stakeholders.
The culture of security being implemented by Task Force Davao is being used as a template to prevent terrorism in urban areas. For the year, there was no recorded violent incident perpetrated by the extremist group.
The midterm election and the Davao De Oro were held with zero violence.
Stronger posture against violent extremism
Partnership of the security sector and the LGUs include: crafting of ordinances, advocacy programs, quick reaction mechanism, and, implementation of culture and conflict sensitive programs.
Strong support of the National Government agencies.
Cooperation, coordination and vigilance of the people and the religious sector were a key to this approach, Balagtey elaborated. With these improvements, they also expect faster delivery of services in the GIDAs and formerly conflict-affected areas. More so with ELCAC, a program will also address the non-military dimension of insurgency that will operationalize at all levels in the area of Eastern Mindanao, hoping that this will concretize and push further the peace gains towards a peaceful area that everyone is longing for, Balagtey concluded.
