Winning peace in north seen

From the Visayan Daily Star (Dec 17): Winning peace in north seen

BRGY. BATO, Sagay City - Col. Jon Aying, 303rdInfantry Brigade commander, yesterday aired optimism that their “winning the peace” campaign in the identified conflict-affected communities in northern Negros is “imminent”.

This is because of the involvement and all-out support ofmulti-sectoral groups, including local government units, in the quest for peace, Aying said.

Gov. Alfredo Maranon Jr., through the Provincial Peace Integration and Development, a sub-committee of the Provincial Peace and Order Council, spearheaded the development of several hinterland barangays said to be influenced by the New People’s Army, in Escalante, Toboso and Calatrava.

This was in tandem with the 303rdInfantry Brigade, Philippine National Police, local government units, non-government and people’s organizations, including the church sector, civil society and peace advocate groups, among others, military records show.

Aying said the Philippine Army is nowa peace builder and has even turned social worker, and members of its Bayanihan teams are now immersed with the people in the countryside to help them improve their lives.

‘BAYANIHAN TEAMS’

He said the holistic approaches under the Bayanihan program will eventually render insurgency irrelevant in Negros Occidental.

The Pro-PIDU, a multi-sectoral group composed of the provincial government, military, police and civil society groups, is now in the second phase of its project on the theme “Serving the Countryside, Working with the People” that plans to meet the basic health needs of those in conflict- affected communities of ESTOCA( Escalante-Toboso-Calatrava) area, in line with the Negros First Agenda of Marañon.

Lt. Col. Efren Morados, 62ndIB commander, said that by deploying Bayanihan teams in conflict-affected communities they were able to deny the NPA from those areas.

Morados said they have completed 80 percent of their survey of the need of conflict-affected communities with 600 households, who are the poorest of the poor, as the target beneficiaries.

He said that, with the Bayanihan teams, the NPA in the remote communities, were reported to have gone inactive, while others fled to central and southern Negros.

NO HR VIOLATIONS

Morados reported that not a single complaint of human rights was filed against his unit, indicatingtheir strict adherence to the rule of law and promotion of human rights.
He said the local governments of Toboso and Calatrava have agreed to activate PIDU in their localities.

1Lt. Jimrhic Obias,303rdCivil Military Operations officer, said the University of the Philippines-Miag-ao, as recommended by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace Process, is conducting a research on “Life After War” for former rebels in Negros Occidental. This is a similar reintegration program as that for former Moro National Liberation Front fighters and communist rebels.

REINTEGRATION

Obias said the research aims to document the effects of reintegration programs in local and national for foreign funding, the security of communities that absorbed them, and to provide narratives about the transition to civilian life of ex-rebels.

Seventeen of the 82 former rebels are now piloting the “Wellness Program” of the 303rdInfantry Brigade headquarters in Murcia, that aims to provide livelihood to their families, with the support of the provincial government of Negros Occidental.

http://www.visayandailystar.com/2013/December/17/topstory8.htm