The City Peace 911 aims to declare the whole Paquibato area as insurgency free by May this year as it plans to expand the focus on the 15 barangays in Calinan District.
In an interview at the sidelines of the ECLIP awarding of benefits to the former rebels yesterday at the Grand Men Seng hotel, Elisa Lapina , the spokesperson of Peace 911, said they will meet on Jan. 18 to assess the situation on the ground.
She said battalion commanders have been requesting City Hall to expand the program to the other barangays in Calinan District after seeing first-hand its success in Paquibato.
“Our goal for now in Paquibato by one year of the launching of Peace 911, the 13 barangays of Paquibato will be declared as insurgency free,” she said.“For now we have six already (declared ) and seven more to go,” she added.
The lawyer said they have seen the development of Paquibato District as the communities are very responsive to the programs of Peace 911.
Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio already has laid down seven programs for children, women, indigenous people, farmers, and faith-based organization.
“It was not yet introduced on the ground because what we did during the first few months of Peace 911 was more on responsive approach because the immediate needs on the ground were being addressed first,”Lapina said.
“We have seen that there is a need for an immediate resolution for the concern on their security, hunger, and then health service, and access to the basic services of the government,” she added.
She said the communities no longer welcome the New People's Army because they realized the city government is sincere in trying to lift them out of poverty.
Lapina also said they received some inquiries from investors but for now they are still preparing the communities so they can absorb the new businesses coming in without being exploited. There's also the issue of the ancestral domain, which means any new investment would require the free and prior informed consent from the tribes.
In a separate interview yesterday, Brig. Gen. Ernesto Torres Jr., the commander of 1003RD Infantry Brigade, said the most members of the Pulang Bagani Command 1 have already been driven away from Paquibato and the rebels are now hiding in the tri-boundaries of Bukidnon, Davao del Norte, and Davao City.
“It is very good that Peace 911 is there,” he said. “The delivery of basic services is being acted which makes the program being credible because the people if very supportive.”
He also said that the local economy has been given a boost with 1,000 IP soldiers earning P30,000 per month while the government militias are earning more than P8,000 per month in addition to a sack of rice.
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