Nine towns in Leyte
province had been declared as insurgency-free by the local government units and
the Philippine Army in the bid to establish safer communities that are ready
for economic development.
Lt. Col. Nedy Espulgar, commander of 19th infantry battalion
(IB) and Lt. Col. Allan Jose Taguba, commander of the 78th IB made the
announcement in the presentation of their 2014 accomplishment before members of
civil society and media practitioners at the quarterly meeting of Bantay
Bayanihan held at 19th IB camp dubbed as “Security Sector-Leyte BB Team
Building Activity and Dialogue”.
Bantay Bayanihan is a civil-society led initiative that aims
to institutionalize the participation of civil society and relevant agencies in
the implementation of the Armed Forces of the Philippines
Towns in Leyte province declared as free from threats of
communist rebels in 2014 were Matag-ob, Merida, Palompon, Matalom, Bato,
Inopacan, Dulag, Tabontabon and Tabango
In Leyte province, under
the watch of the army’s two infantry battalions are 40 towns and three cities.
Their jurisdiction is also extended to Biliran and Southern
Leyte provinces.
With the declaration of these towns as insurgency free,
government troops are expecting to witness a dramatic change of people’s living
condition to a better community, where everyone lives in peace and has normal
condition and better source of livelihood.
Col. Dinoh Dolina, commander of the 802nd Infantry Brigade
said that aside from military operation, they are also conducting civil
military operation, which focuses in identifying the root cause of insurgency
problem in affected villages of the province.
Various peace and development programs and project are being
implemented by the government troop to ensure that far-flung areas can now
access and avail government basic social and health services.
“As catalyzers, we tried to fill the gaps between the
communities and the government,” he stressed. Dolina also vowed to fully
support the Leyte-Bantay Bayanihan and its initiatives.
Foremost in this development projects being implemented by
the government troops in the province is the “Organic Farming” of the 19th IB
supported by the Landbank of the Philippines
The Bantay Bayanihan Forum at 19th IB was initiated by Gina
Ragudo, the convenor of Leyte Bantay-Bayanihan who discussed its core objective
by reforming the security sector institutions to become transparent, respectful
of the Rule of Law, Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law, and
accountable to democratic civilian authority.
Ragudo also emphasizes that reform in security sector is an
important component of peace building, democratization and development.
The Leyte-Bantay Bayanihan was launched at the Visayas State
University (VSU) in Baybay
City
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=759452
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