CEBU, Aug. 20 (PIA) -- Left-leaning groups are exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic to attack the government from mismanagement to lockdown implementation, but a Cabinet official said the delivery of basic public services and programs must go unhampered even amid the health crisis as no time is more crucial than now when people need government the most.
Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Secretary Michael Lloyd Dino stressed the crisis should not be used to derail or slow down government works, but rather this is the time to move forward because people need government the most right now.
“We in government, we need to show that we are relevant to the people and that we care. We need to express that there is ‘malasakit' in the Duterte Administration. When we do that, we convey to the people that they need the government, and not communism,” said Dino during the recent Visayas Inter-Regional Task Force Convergence Meeting on Ending Local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC).
Dino, appointed as the Cabinet Officer for Regional Development and Security (CORDS) in Central Visayas, said the decades-old problem of insurgency has hindered development in the countryside.
“We stand by our commitment to end local communist armed conflict by 2021,” emphasized Dino as gaps in basic government services in some areas of Negros Oriental are being poured by regional line agencies including health services, power, education and land distribution to qualified farmers.
Among the four provinces in the region, only the province of Negros Oriental has been tagged as a red area, or one that is plagued by the presence of armed rebels.
Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella, chair of the Regional Peace and Order Council 7, said 135 local government units (LGUs) in Central Visayas have declared the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA), including its affiliate organizations, as persona non grata while 136 LGUs have formed their own task force on ELCAC.
In the Visayas, the manpower strength of the NPA shrunk by 10 percent with less than 1,700 members as of June 2020, reported the Armed Forces of the Philippines-Central Command.
National Security Adviser Secretary Hermogenes Esperon, Jr., vice-chair of the National Task Force-ELCAC, told mayors and governors of the Visayas Region present during the virtual meeting to double their efforts and deliver their commitments to the vision of an insurgency-free Philippines by the time Pres. Duterte ends his term in 2022.
“We have to overcome and put an end to the enemy that will not bring good to our country,” said Esperon, reiterating Pres. Duterte’s order to address internal security through the whole-of-nation approach and bring development down to the countryside.
Esperon said the government will soon implement the Barangay Development Program (BDP) to pave for progress in insurgency-cleared barangays, with projects ranging from farm-to-market roads, health stations, schools, reforestation and livelihood opportunities to the residents in the areas.
Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado, in the same meeting, assured that ELCAC-related projects in line with the BDP will be given appropriate funding support by 2021, and that the budget will be given directly to the local government units to ensure projects are implemented without delay and on time. (fcr/pia7)
https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1050874
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