NATIONAL Security adviser and former Armed Forces chief, Hermogenes Esperon, brushed aside insinuation that politics is behind the pouring of economic and rehabilitation aids in Davao City thru the P16.4 billion budget for next year of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.
In a statement last week, Esperon said the increase in the number of villages to be assisted by the NTF-ELCAC in Davao City is due to its being the “economic hub” of the entire island of Mindanao and the fact that it is the focal point of operation of at least 5 guerilla fronts of the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (CPP-NPA).
From the initial number of 15 villages identified by the city government under Mayor Sara Duterte, the regional NTF, Esperon explained, had recommended the inclusion of several more villages to prevent their return as strongholds of the CPP-NPA. The number now stands at 79 villages, the official noted further.
The recovery from communist control, rehabilitation and development of these villages as peaceful and livable communities, are part of the ‘whole of nation’ (WON) approach of the NTF-ELCAC in defeating the 52-year old armed communist insurgency thru its ‘Barangay Development Program’ (BDP).
The task force targets to assist some 800 villages all over the country next year, all of which have been declared as “cleared” from CPP-NPA influence by the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
The projects of the NTF-ELCAC for these remote rural communities are now on track after both chambers of Congress rejected the effort by CPP-front organizations and their Liberal Party (LP) allies in Congress to remove or whittle down the P16.4 billion budget request of the task force and channel the amount elsewhere.
“Clearly, the facts show that Davao City can be considered a province by itself.
“Davao City is the hub of the economy in Mindanao, with a Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) rate of 9.4 percent and 40,499 businesses established within the city, and a population of 1,673,832 people as of 2018,” Esperon said.
In the security front, Esperon, citing the records from the Eastern Mindanao Command (Eastmincom), said there are at least 5 CPP-NPA ‘guerilla fronts’ active in Davao City, out of the 17 guerrilla fronts plaguing the entire Davao region.
Esperon said particular attention would be given to the establishment of more public schools in Davao City where some 55 communist-established schools (“Salugpungan”) were finally closed down by the government last year and which have become recruitment centers for the NPA, especially among the indigenous people of Davao, of which 11 tribes are natives in the region.
“In fact, 8 out of 10 NPAs in Eastern Mindanao have been recruited from IP communities, ndigenous Peoples (communities),” Esperon said.
Under the BDP, each beneficiary community stands to receive P20 million in assistance, excluding the assistance to be provided by other government agencies under the WON strategy.
Each beneficiary community stands to receive P20 million in assistance, excluding the assistance to be provided by other government agencies under the WON strategy.
Projects earmarked for each barangay are as follows:
PHP12 million for farm-to-market roads (Department of Agriculture-Department of Public Works and Highways); PHP3 million for school buildings (DepEd); PHP2 million for water and sanitation systems (Department of Interior and Local Government); PHP1.5 million for national greening/forest protection (Department of Environment and Natural Resources); and PHP1.5 million for health stations (Department of Health).