DAVAO CITY – National government agencies, local government units, and other key stakeholders are set to harmonize efforts in a bid to effectively counter the long-running communist insurgency.
During the RPOC’s first full council meeting on Wednesday, January 15, in Davao City, the council agreed to have national agencies and LGUs come up with a list of priority programs, projects, and activities (PPAs) for the year 2020 in support to the implementation of President Rodrigo Duterte’s Executive Order 70 or the Whole of Nation Approach to attain sustainable peace and to end the local communist armed conflict.
RPOC Chairperson Davao Oriental Governor Nelson Dayanghirang, who strongly pushed the proposal, emphasized the urgency of coming up with concrete PPAs and setting timeline in order to fast track interventions addressing the decades-long insurgency problem.
With the said motion approved, national agencies together with local chief executives, as well as some members of the private sector are expected to sit down for a workshop slated on February or on the first week of March this year.
“I am soliciting your inputs on how we can implement the EO70 with more detailed efficiency. There will be no shortcuts on our campaign, no cutting corners,” Gov. Dayanghirang said as he addressed the members of the council.
The aim of the upcoming workshop is to ensure that each agency will be able to identify what programs to implement and where to focus its implementation. “We have to bear in mind that we prioritize addressing the lack of services and the existing poverty in the communities. We need to address this together,” he said. “We have to move in the same direction and we must synchronize all efforts,” he added.
Governor Dayanghirang made special mention to agencies like the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and Department of Labor and Employment, among others, whose livelihood programs truly makes a difference among the lives of poor people.
Governor Dayanghirang further urged his fellow members to be proactive and serious in the effort towards ending insurgency since Region Eleven is the home of the President. “It is incumbent upon us not to be slack in this campaign but to be in the forefront, especially so that this is the region of the President. We must be the model, the main actors of the Whole of Nation Approach. We must not fail the President,” he added.
Department of the Interior and Local Government Regional Director Alex Roldan, who heads the RPOC secretariat, was tasked by the RPOC Chair to facilitate the upcoming workshop. Roldan has warmly welcomed the plan saying this strategy would help the government agencies become more responsive to the concerns of the different barangays.
“Real convergence would happen and this will be a complementation of development initiatives funded by national agencies not just limited to the twelve clusters of RTF-ELCAC but will also include other agencies, LGUs, and partners in private sector that have resources for this purpose,” said National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Regional Director Ma. Lourdes Lim, who suggested that in order to come up with sound output, the workshop design should surface the particular target barangays, particularly those “insurgency-cleared barangays”.
She added that for the 2021 national budget memorandum, the Regional Development Council is set to conduct a budget review of the proposals of all agencies and state universities and colleges in the Davao Region come February. “This will give us time to conduct consultation with LGUs and national government agencies for the endorsement of the RDC,” she said.
Gov. Dayanghirang said it is high-time to boost the region’s momentum on its peace and development efforts.
Based on latest Peace and Security Situation Update reported by the Philippine Army, the region has been experiencing relative peace amidst the downgrading of enemy forces in terms of manpower, firepower, the dismantling of guerrilla fronts and mass bases, and the massive surrender of members of the New People’s Army to the government.
“2019 was relatively a good year for us as we gain much headway and significant inroads in our efforts to attain stable peace and order and end insurgency through the implementation of PRRDs Executive Order 70,” said Governor Dayanghirang.
“With the Whole of Nation Approach, we found a winning formula that promises the final days of our half-century struggle against Communist insurgency. On that note, we must begin 2020 with the first hope, rising commitment, and tremendous enthusiasm. Our challenge for this year is to build up on our gains and push ahead in a more focused, more precise, no-nonsense implementation of EO70,” he added. By Karen Lou Deloso
