CURBING INSURGENCY. Engr. Ricardo Mendoza, senior staff at the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas, says the people can now truly feel the government’s presence through activities initiated by the Negros Oriental Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NOTF-ELCAC) in Siaton and Sta. Catalina towns. In an interview on Tuesday (Nov. 5, 2019), he lauded the efforts of the NOTF-ELCAC toward attaining its goal of attaining peace in the communities. (PNA photo by Judaline F. Partlow)
DUMAGUETE CITY -- A senior staff of the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV) has lauded the efforts of the Negros Oriental Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NOTF-ELCAC) for its successful stints in conflict areas in Siaton and Sta. Catalina towns.
Engr. Ricardo Mendoza, in an interview on Tuesday afternoon, said the people can now truly feel the government’s presence through the twin activities, the "Dagyawan: Talakayan sa Mamamayan" and the service caravan.
“We call it 'Malasakit Serbisyong Caravan' and this the government’s way of bringing the services of government agencies and its partners to the people especially in conflict areas,” he said.
Mendoza was happy to note that a massage therapist from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) told him that a man who availed of free massage in the Siaton leg of the activity told him he was a member of the New People’s Army (NPA) and wanted to surrender but was afraid of punitive actions by the insurgents.
The man told the massage therapist that life was really hard for them up in the mountains and with the NPA, and with what the NOTF-ELCAC is doing, the people can now truly feel the presence of government in their areas, Mendoza added.
On Monday, the NOTF-ELCAC held a Talakayan at the Siaton gymnasium and the Serbisyong Caravan in the hinterland Sitio Mainit in Barangay Tayak of that town, where about 300 to 400 people benefitted from the different services offered by government agencies and civil society partners, said Jennifer Catan Tilos, Infocen Manager of the Philippine Information Agency here and head of the Strategic Communication Cluster of the NOTF-ELCAC.
In Sta. Catalina, the Talakayan was held at Barangay Nagbinlod gymnasium while the Serbisyong Caravan venue was at the Barangay Nagbinlod Elementary School, with about 500 beneficiaries, she added.
Mendoza, who attended these activities, said after the last two activities of the NOTF-ELCAC in Negros Oriental, a “turnover” of the output is scheduled on November 28.
The role of the OPAV, he said, is to facilitate the activities and monitor which agencies had made commitments and whether these can be delivered.
Meanwhile, Mendoza cited that one of the main contributing factors to insurgency is lack of roads. “Where the road ends, insurgency begins,” he said.
Tasked to check the venues for OPAV’s caravan of services, he cited the poor roads leading to these areas. He said he learned that in Barangay Dobdob, Valencia, a person has to pay PHP600 one way on a motorcycle-for-hire or "habal-habal" to go down to the city.
On Nov. 14, the NOTF-ELCAC will go to Zamboanguita and on Nov. 21 in Dobdob, Valencia.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1085229
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