SERVICES TO THE PEOPLE. Lt. Col. Jay Malong, 1st Iloilo Police Mobile Force Company Commander, tells the residents of Igtuble and Molina villages in Tubungan town, Iloilo that the government and law enforcers are ready to help and protect them. The local government of Tubungan on Wednesday (Nov. 20, 2019) brought services nearer to the villages through its Project TINGGAS (Thorough Implementation of Novel and Good Government Applied Services) to prevent them from joining in the armed struggle. (PNA photo by Gail Momblan)
ILOILO CITY -- To show its commitment to the administration’s whole-of-nation approach to end local communist armed conflict, the local government of Tubungan has brought services closer to the people in the villages.
On Wednesday, almost 200 residents in Igtuble and Molina villages have benefited from the visit of the town’s Project TINGGAS (Thorough Implementation of Novel and Good Government Applied Services).
Tubungan Mayor Roquito Tacsagon, in an interview Wednesday, said bringing the services nearer to villages prevents the residents from joining the armed conflict.
“We saw that when the people are contented in our way of governance, there is no reason for them to rebel. We understand our mandate and we are committed to deliver efficient and effective service delivery to the people,” Tacsagon said.
Situated 12 kilometers away from the town proper, Tacsagon said residents in Igtuble and Molina found it inconvenient to travel to the municipal hall to process their birth certificates, business permits, police clearance, and other documents from the government.
The project TINGGAS has also brought the municipal health staff to the villages for residents to have a checkup, Tacsagon said.
Other government offices present in the village visit are the local offices of employment services, agriculture, registrar, assessor, and tourism, among others.
Although Tacsagon said only the village of Boloc is identified as "affected" by the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA), the project TINGGAS will continue until it covers all the 48 villages in town.
“We will cover all the villages to address the problem of insurgency. This is our local initiative to bring services to our residents, and we groom our employees as well for them to provide quality services to the public,” he said.
Aside from the project TINGGAS, the local government unit will also be launching on December 10 the Project ROKIT (Reintegration Oplan Kabalaka for deserving Individuals in Tubungan) to aid its rebel returnees.
“We do not just assist them, but we also organize them to arrange the help that we will be extending. We help them be reintegrated back to the society by assisting them secure a source of income,” he said.
Since 2012, the mayor said the local government unit had been providing help to rebel returnees.
At present, there are about 60 rebel returnees in town under the TAGPDA (Tubungan Amnesty Grantees for Peace and Development Association).
The Department of the Interior and Local Government in Iloilo has given Tubungan town a “deadline” until Nov. 30 to create its Municipal Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (MTF-ELCAC).
Tubungan, along with the towns of Alimodian, Calinog, Janiauy, Lambunao, and Maasin, were identified by the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines to be vulnerable to the CPP-NPA.
Tacsagon reported on Wednesday that Tubungan town was the first to heed the directive of the DILG-Iloilo as it successfully passed on Tuesday a joint resolution creating its MTF-ELCAC.
With the creation of the task force, the town has now in place its 12 clusters that will serve as a convergence platform for the delivery of basic services to people. (PNA)
