CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — Impoverished upland communities in Gingoog City are at the losing end as communist rebels have continued to sabotage government projects aimed at improving the lives of the people.
This according to Gingoog City Mayor Marie Guingona as she accused the New People's Army (NPA) of preventing the local government from delivering basic services to Gingoog's hinterland barangays.
“We have focused on the hinterlands to bring more development and government services, to ensure that they progress along with the city and the rest of the nation,” Guingona told members of the City Peace and Order Council during its quarterly meeting Wednesday afternoon (Sept. 6).
But the local government activities in the upland areas have angered the NPA, Guingona said, citing accounts of harassments and other atrocities.
For instance, the mayor said communist guerillas last month seized a chainsaw that was used to cut trees to build a school facility for the indigenous community in Barangay Bantaawan.
“Reportedly, these armed men were enraged because of the developments that we have brought to these areas – like the classrooms, roads, water system, electricity, livelihood programs and others – and they were urging the people there to case cooperation with the government,” the mayor said.
Police Supt. Joel Lamiing, Gingoog police chief, also scored the NPA for allegedly abducting 10 workers and taking away some PhP1.2 million in cash when they attacked a construction firm on August 25.
Guingona herself and her mother, Ruth, were victims of NPA harassment when the rebels fired on their convoy in Barangay Alatagan in 2013. Two of Guingona's escorts were killed in that ambush.
The mayor appealed to the NPA to let the government do its job so that upland communities will not be deprived of basic services.
Lt. Col. Francis Carandang, commanding officer of the Philippine Army’s 58th Infantry Battalion, said at least three NPA units operate in Gingoog and its boundaries—the Guerrilla Fronts 4A, 4B, and 4C. (PNA/Jigger J. Jerusalem)
