DAVAO ORIENTAL – In the continuous effort to achieve lasting peace, the Provincial Government of Davao Oriental has staged another round of its flagship program Nagkakaisang Lingkod Bayan ng Davao Oriental – Barangay Outreach Caravan, making the program already reach out to a total of 122 out of 183 barangays of the province since its launching in 2016.
The latest caravan held on August 13-15 was held in six far-flung villages in Manay town namely Manriza, Guza, Mabini, San Fermin, San Isidro and Concepcion.
Governor Nelson Dayanghirang said that he wants to all communities in the province to live in peace and prosperity which will not be possible if there are still conflicts.
“When there is peace, development will always follow,” Governor Dayanghirang said as he urged the residents to support the program of the government, adding that the province has 1.2 million tourists last year which means a lot in terms of peace and development.
“It is just an indication that Davao Oriental is gearing-up towards a peace and development,” he underscored.
In an interview, Provincial Government Department Head Rotchie M. Ravelo, who is also the Focal Person of the NLD-BOC program, thanked all the Peace and Development Partners for being one with the Provincial Government in combating insurgencies and armed conflict. “We could not have achieved this without your support,” said Ravelo as he salutes the representatives of 75 agencies, who amidst the risk of going to conflict-vulnerable areas, left the comfort of their offices just to join the quest on bringing the government closer to the people.
Moreover, peace and development partners here say that the flagship program of the province has been resulting remarkable impacts on peace situation in Davao Oriental.
“The program was replicated by other Local Government Units because of the best practices here,” said Brig. Gen. Manuel Sequitin, Commander of the Philippine Army’s 701st Brigade said, adding that it has shown efficiency and effectiveness that drove Communist insurgents away and drawn more rebels to surrender to the government.
During the three-day caravan, thousands of residents have received various free government services and goods such as medical and eye checkup, dental services, legal consultation, processing of legal documents, registration to Philhealth and SSS, registration of motorcycles, trainings, and advocacy campaigns.
There were also distribution of planting materials, food packs, school supplies, tilapia fingerlings, and sport equipment, among others.
To date, a total of 439, 713 beneficiaries have already received different services from different agencies since 2016. By Harold John Miguel/Photos by Eden Jhan Licayan
