GUIPOS, ZAMBOANGA DEL SUR— Taking the lead in development projects in Lakewood town, this province, the Philippine Army leadership participated in groundbreaking ceremonies today for the construction and rehabilitation of three farm-to-market roads in barangay Dagum.
In partnership with the 53rd Infantry (Matapat) Battalion, road projects are the top priority of the Zamboanga del Sur Provincial Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (PTF-ELCAC) chaired by Governor Victor Yu.
These projects include the rehabilitation of the 5.925-kilometer Poblacion-Baking-Dagum Road; construction of 4.745-kilometer Dagum-Matalang Road; and the construction of 4-kilometer Dagum-Tiwales Road.
In his remarks, Yu said that the construction of these roads is a prerequisite to eradicating insurgency.
“I have always said, we first build roads then everything else will follow. Having these roads will translate to the delivery of basic and government services to far-flung areas,” said Yu.
Lakewood Municipal Mayor Domingo Mirrar acknowledged the Provincial Government and the Philippine Army for paving the way for the realization of said projects.
“This year 2020, forty-three years after Lakewood was founded in 1977, is the first time our constituents here in Barangay Dagum will be able to see four-wheeled vehicles,” said Mirrar.
For several decades, Dagum has been inaccessible and had become a haven for NPA while basic government services were likewise unavailable.
The ELCAC was created by virtue of Executive Order No. 70 signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in December 2018 institutionalizing a whole-of-nation approach in attaining inclusive and sustainable peace.
The measure was aimed at establishing an all-of-government strategy in addressing “the root causes of insurgencies, internal disturbances and tensions, and other armed conflicts and threats” in the country.
The presidential order created a national task force to ensure the effective and efficient implementation of such measures.
Meanwhile, the 1st Infantry Division’s Assistant Division Commander Brig. Gen. Bagnus Gaerlan, Jr. said that the construction of these roads hopes to open the eyes of NPAs still in the hinterlands.
“We hold this groundbreaking ceremony and construct these roads with the hope that more NPA terrorists will abandon the armed struggle and return to the folds of the law. The [NPAs] are also our brothers and sisters who were deceived with the wrong ideology,” said Brig. Gen. Gaerlan.
Meanwhile, 53rd IB Commander Lt. Col. Jo-ar Herrera, who has tactical control over Lakewood town, said that these roads will form part of conflict resolution as the people will now receive the services they are so longing for.
“What we are building now are the roads that lead to progress, roads that will deliver basic government services to the people such as health, education, and job opportunities,” Herrera concluded. Newsline
