Aerial shot of Sitio Calinawan, Manay, Davao Oriental (Contibuted Photo from Davao Oriental PIO)
The once-tagged as “factory of landmines” village in Manay, Davao Oriental has declared “alsa masa” or mass revolt against communist insurgents who once reigned in their village for decades.
In an interview on Sunday, Karen Lou Deloso, Davao Oriental Provincial Information Officer, said Calinawan, Manay, Davao Oriental is among the country’s geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDAS), and in the last decades, the New People’s Army (NPA) has made the community a nerve center and training ground.
“The absence of government projects and programs owing to its considerable distance from the town’s economic center is among the reasons the insurgents had taken complete control of the community and their neighboring villages in the towns of Manay and Lupon,” Deloso told the Philippine News Agency (PNA).
Sitio Calinawan in Barangay Taocanga -- the farthest sitio in the municipality of Manay -- used to be a stronghold of NPA rebels due to its strategic location which shares boundaries with the municipalities of Lupon in Davao Oriental and the municipalities of Maragusan and New Bataan in Compostela Valley Province.
Ending NPA reign
The two-day immersion activity conducted by the Provincial Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (PTF-ELCAC) on August 28-29, Deloso said, made the residents boldly burn down a flag bearing the emblem of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army- National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF).
Aboard a military helicopter, heads and representatives of national agencies and provincial departments arrived in batches on the small, isolated sub-village which is home to about 50 households that mostly live from farming corn and abaca.
The residents say they are emboldened by what they saw as a genuine expression of the government in forging true peace as national government agencies and provincial government departments went out of their way, risking their own safety just to reach them and talk to them.
Residents were given the opportunity to voice out their community’s shared concerns as they listed proposed solutions to these gaps through the Multi-sectoral Inclusive and Participatory Barangay Development Workshop and Dialogue.
“It is sending their strong message on their unified support to the government and their rallying cry for peace in their small Mandaya community,” she said.
Reaching out
Lt. Col. Louie Dema-ala, 67th Infantry Battalion commander, underscored the importance of the government’s effort to reach out to this critical area which the NPA rebels have been attempting to recover.
“It’s really crucial for us to make the community feel the government’s presence here. It’s high-time that we begin to reintroduce the government to them,” he said.
In efforts to win over the people in favor of the government, the members of the PTF-ELCAC started to lay the groundwork ranging from immediate to long-term interventions to address their myriad of concerns.
Moreover, as the community has also appealed for the retention of military presence in the area, 701st Brigade Commander, Brig. Gen. Manuel Sequtin, vowed that government forces will continue to secure the area.
“We will not leave until it is cleared. We will continue sending services at the same time government forces to secure the people and for the government to smoothly implement their interventions in the area,” he said.
For his part, Governor Nelson Dayanghirang stressed the provincial government’s commitment to fast-track the implementation of all interventions intended for the said village.
Though funding for projects can be a constraint for the province, he assured that “with the national government backing up the programs, the community’s needs will be addressed the soonest time possible”.
In turn, he urged the residents to help the government foster peace.
“The government is always ready to serve the people no matter how far they are. I only ask that you support our government because we have only one government in our country -- the Government of the Philippines,” Governor Dayanghirang said.
The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1079229
In an interview on Sunday, Karen Lou Deloso, Davao Oriental Provincial Information Officer, said Calinawan, Manay, Davao Oriental is among the country’s geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDAS), and in the last decades, the New People’s Army (NPA) has made the community a nerve center and training ground.
“The absence of government projects and programs owing to its considerable distance from the town’s economic center is among the reasons the insurgents had taken complete control of the community and their neighboring villages in the towns of Manay and Lupon,” Deloso told the Philippine News Agency (PNA).
Sitio Calinawan in Barangay Taocanga -- the farthest sitio in the municipality of Manay -- used to be a stronghold of NPA rebels due to its strategic location which shares boundaries with the municipalities of Lupon in Davao Oriental and the municipalities of Maragusan and New Bataan in Compostela Valley Province.
Ending NPA reign
The two-day immersion activity conducted by the Provincial Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (PTF-ELCAC) on August 28-29, Deloso said, made the residents boldly burn down a flag bearing the emblem of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army- National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF).
Aboard a military helicopter, heads and representatives of national agencies and provincial departments arrived in batches on the small, isolated sub-village which is home to about 50 households that mostly live from farming corn and abaca.
The residents say they are emboldened by what they saw as a genuine expression of the government in forging true peace as national government agencies and provincial government departments went out of their way, risking their own safety just to reach them and talk to them.
Residents were given the opportunity to voice out their community’s shared concerns as they listed proposed solutions to these gaps through the Multi-sectoral Inclusive and Participatory Barangay Development Workshop and Dialogue.
“It is sending their strong message on their unified support to the government and their rallying cry for peace in their small Mandaya community,” she said.
Reaching out
Lt. Col. Louie Dema-ala, 67th Infantry Battalion commander, underscored the importance of the government’s effort to reach out to this critical area which the NPA rebels have been attempting to recover.
“It’s really crucial for us to make the community feel the government’s presence here. It’s high-time that we begin to reintroduce the government to them,” he said.
In efforts to win over the people in favor of the government, the members of the PTF-ELCAC started to lay the groundwork ranging from immediate to long-term interventions to address their myriad of concerns.
Moreover, as the community has also appealed for the retention of military presence in the area, 701st Brigade Commander, Brig. Gen. Manuel Sequtin, vowed that government forces will continue to secure the area.
“We will not leave until it is cleared. We will continue sending services at the same time government forces to secure the people and for the government to smoothly implement their interventions in the area,” he said.
For his part, Governor Nelson Dayanghirang stressed the provincial government’s commitment to fast-track the implementation of all interventions intended for the said village.
Though funding for projects can be a constraint for the province, he assured that “with the national government backing up the programs, the community’s needs will be addressed the soonest time possible”.
In turn, he urged the residents to help the government foster peace.
“The government is always ready to serve the people no matter how far they are. I only ask that you support our government because we have only one government in our country -- the Government of the Philippines,” Governor Dayanghirang said.
The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1079229
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