PEACE AGENDA. Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson speaks before the participants of the End Local Communist Armed Conflict Planning Workshop held at the Negros First Residences in Bacolod City on Thursday (August 22, 2019). The activity was a prelude to the creation of the Negros Occidental Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict. (Photo courtesy of PIO Negros Occidental/Richard Malihan)
BACOLOD CITY -- Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson has said that peace is viable for Negros Occidental under the whole-of-nation approach.
Lacson, who led the End Local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC) Planning Workshop at the Negros First Residences here on Thursday, acknowledged that the “walk of peace is a long one, and the process of attaining peace cannot be achieved overnight.”
“However, with this initiative, I am positive that peace is indeed viable, that peace is not a Utopian aspiration for the Philippines and Negros Occidental,” the governor said.
The whole-day activity, attended by local chief executives, military and police officials, planning officers, and representatives of concerned government agencies, was a prelude to the creation of the Negros Occidental Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NOCTF-ELCAC) in compliance with President Rodrigo Duterte’s Executive Order (EO) 70.
The President’s directive institutionalizes the whole-of-nation approach in attaining inclusive and sustainable peace, creating a national task force to end local communist armed conflict, and directing the adoption of a national peace framework.
“The issuance of EO 70 is a remarkable development in the peace process of our country,” Lacson said, adding that it has been reaffirmed by the Joint ASEAN Communique as the more effective approach as opposed to a purely military option.
Negros Occidental is considered a hotbed of insurgency, with the continued presence of the Communist Party of the Philippines - New People's Army (CPP-NPA) cadres mainly in the first, fifth and six districts of the province, although the military said their number has dwindled in recent years.
The Philippine Army maintains two brigades in Negros Island for internal security operations.
The 303rd Infantry Brigade based in Murcia, Negros Occidental supervises the 94th, 79th, and 62nd infantry battalions (IB) while under the jurisdiction of 302IB stationed in Tanjay City, Negros Oriental are the 15th, 11th, and 47th IBs.
Brig. Gen. Benedict Arevalo, commander of the 303IB, who attended the planning sessions, thanked Lacson for initiating the ELCAC activity.
“I’m optimistic about the upcoming creation of NOCTF-ELCAC, as an opportunity for us to work together as part of the government and the whole-of-nation approach to address the problem on CPP-NPA. This task force acknowledges the fact that the solution to end the insurgency problem is not in the hands of the security forces alone,” Arevalo said.
Under EO 70, there is a shift from a traditional military-centric approach to a civilian-led way in confronting the communist terrorist groups (CTGs) to a whole-of-nation approach, in which the military solution should be just one of the many components in addressing the communist insurgency.
“It is important that local government units and national agencies are able to deliver their services to far-flung barangays whose residents are usually being victimized by the deception and manipulation of the CPP-NPA and its political wing, the National Democratic Front,” Arevalo said.
Provincial Planning and Development Officer Ma. Lina Sanogal said on Friday that initiatives supporting the whole-of-nation approach to peace and development were already being implemented in Negros Occidental through the Provincial Peace Integration and Development Program.
She noted that the Provincial Peace and Integration and Development Unit or Pro-PIDU is the action arm of the Provincial Peace and Order Council in bringing services to the conflict-affected areas.
The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines. (PNA)
