MikeLigalig.com

      Ladies and gentlemen:

      I subscribe to the proposition of Secretary Norberto Gonzales and the National Security Council for the involvement of local government units in the drive against insurgency in the country.

      However, I wish the National Security Council would work harder for an effective poverty reduction program, the economic component of the campaign by the national government and the LGUs in conflict areas. Candidly, the military operation alone cannot solve this problem.

      It is on this context, allow me to present the Bohol Response to the Insurgency Challenge through our Poverty Reduction Program for Peace and Development.

 

      The island province of Bohol is the 10th largest land mass in the country located in Central Visayas lying between Cebu to the northwest and Leyte to the northeast. To its south is the big island of Mindanao that is separated from Bohol by the wide Mindanao sea. Aside from the mainland, Bohol has 61 smaller offshore islands and islets. It is about 700 kilometers directly south of Manila.

      This island province – comprising of one city, 47 municipalities and 1,109 barangays, with three congressional districts – has a land area of 4,117 square kilometers and an estimated population of 1.2 million.

      It is categorized as a first class province with a budget of P793.6 million this year, P728.8 million of which comes from the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) with P145.64 million 20% Development Fund which we are using to leverage for Official Development Assistance (ODA), national government agencies, non-government organizations and other sources of outside funding for poverty reduction under the convergence strategy.

      What brought about the program was the gnawing widespread poverty that was further complicated by a growing local communist insurgency problem. Neither one was necessarily the cause or effect of the other, but together they complemented and fed on each other to give local governance a headache.

      The poverty incidence of Bohol rose from 37.3% in 1997 to 47.3% in 2000 in terms of families and from 43.1% in 1997 to 53.6% in 2000 in terms of population. This made Bohol the 16th among the country’s top 20 poorest provinces, popularly known as Club 20, in 2000. And, using the issue of poverty, 305 out of the 1,109 barangays (or 30% of the total) were in various stages of insurgency: threatened, infiltrated or influenced.

      The alarming poverty situation and the disturbing threats of ideology-based conflicts to the economic potentials of the province prompted the local leaders and the stakeholders to draft a peace and development framework that is centered on poverty reduction with the goals of not only removing Bohol from Club 20 but reducing poverty incidence by 50% in 2015 under our Millennium Development Goals (MDG) commitment, and pushing the province to one of the Top 10 in 2010.

      Peace and security, along with other development thrusts, is focused on the all-encompassing poverty reduction program.

      Hence, the Bohol Poverty Reduction Management Office (BPRMO) was created by virtue of Executive Order No. 10, Series of 2001 and was duly institutionalized by SP Ordinance No. 2003-004. Similarly, we created the Bohol Employment and Placement Office (BEPO) which, as of 30 June 2007, has deployed about 2,474 Boholano overseas workers and 1,859 domestic workers, employed 1,494 students in summer jobs, facilitated the processing of 4,709 passports by the Department of Foreign Affairs, 2,305 licenses by the Philippine Regulatory Commission (PRC), 965 franchises by the Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB), 34,617 clearances by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and authentication of 1,880 birth and marriage certificates by the National Statistics Office (NSO);

      The Bohol Tourism Office for Bohol’s tourism development, which with agriculture, is one of our two main economic drivers, and the Center for Culture and the Arts Development for poverty reduction through the arts and cultural heritage.

      While our poverty reduction program covered the whole province, it had special focus on 41 insurgency influenced barangays in 20 municipalities within the four fronts of the CPP-NPA in 2001 at the beginning. This year the program has expanded to include 284 barangays.

      Parenthetically, it was clear to us from the start that military intervention alone would not solve the insurgency problem. The economic component must be addressed in accordance with Karl Marx’ exhortation: “Workers of the world, unite. We have nothing to lose but our poverty chain.”

      Conflicts borne from poverty, deprivation of basic goods and services, lack of employment and livelihood opportunities, non-participation, injustice and human rights violations have to be addressed by the local government unit and civil society.

      Employing the strategies of alliance building, convergence, community organizing, capability building and reinvigorating the bayanihan spirit, the poverty reduction program for peace and development of Bohol has resulted in something beyond our expectations.

      The collaborative approach in waging a “war” versus the evils of communism gave birth to Team Bohol… where all government units and agencies shared and took part by integrating in their respective plans, peace-promoting and conflict-sensitive programs and projects.

      Team Bohol with then Tagbilaran Bishop Leopoldo Tumulak, now military vicar-general, and then Col. Juanito Gomez, 302nd Infantry Brigade commander and now commanding general of the 4th Infantry Division based in Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija ultimately became the vehicle for peace and eventual progress in the province with the implementation of effective innovations that any other peace and order council can initiate if the collective passion to achieve a culture of peace is present. Today, Team Bohol is our key player in sustaining Bohol’s peace and development.

      For instance, community workers were assigned in conflict affected areas and funds were channeled for development to make people in the far-flung barangays feel the presence of the government in their communities. For this poverty reduction program, we have sourced out foreign-funded programs and projects, all with the end in view of poverty reduction, augmented by our local funding of about P100 million, mostly from our 20% Development Fund from 2002 up to the present

      The special operations team (SOT) approach of the military in its counter-insurgency campaign was modified in Bohol and is dubbed as “SOT: Bohol Approach”. In tandem with the SOT operators, civilian community organizers were deployed in target areas to organize residents into cooperatives. Together with the soldiers, they immersed in the communities to facilitate the needs of the barangay folks in their livelihood projects, support the information campaigns and medical-civic action program of the SOTs operators. This way, trust and confidence was easily established among the people.

      Other noteworthy innovative undertakings of the PPOC that enhanced and sustained the efforts for peace-building and peace-keeping are:

    * One, the monthly Civic Action (CIVAC) activity. These regular CIVACs were supported by host municipalities and barangays and participated in by national government agencies and civic organizations thru the provision of basic health services, distribution of farm inputs, clothing and tree seedlings, and supplemental feeding of indigent residents of communist-affected areas

    * Moreover, a Quick Response Team was organized and is now regularly dispatched immediately to conflict-affected and disaster-stricken areas to assess the extent of damage and provide the necessary emergency assistance to the families of victims ranging from food, medicines, temporary shelter, clothing and even coffins when there are casualties.

    * Another effective strategy is the deployment of Fact-finding Missions immediately after receipt of reports of insurgency-related incidents that involve government troops, the CPP-NPA-NDF, their supporters or neutral groups. Composed of PPOC members coming from both government and non-government institutions, the fact-finding team gathers first-hand information on incidents related to internal security operations (ISO) such as encounters, the so-called “extra-judicial killings”, alleged abusive acts of government troopers and all forms of human rights violations. The factual information the team report to me are substantives for the proper actions to be taken, be they for socio-economic interventions or policy-direction. The conduct of such activity would set the facts straight to prevent the enemy from exploiting the event for any propaganda purposes.

      Bohol has a Local Peace Forum (LPF) implemented by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP). Up to now, we continue to convene the LPF as a venue for dialogs to thresh out local issues and concerns raised by leftist groups and the government side. The Bishop of the Diocese of Tagbilaran and the governor co-chair the LPF with the Provincial Government of Bohol funding its administrative and operational requirements.

      Bohol is presently one of the few provinces where a Local Monitoring Board (LMB) on the implementation of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHIHL) has been installed. Aside from monitoring, intensive information dissemination is being conducted regularly in coordination with the Public Information Patrol (PIP) of the military. Target audiences are students, out-of-school youths and other barangay folks. The continuous info campaigns are also aimed at educating and informing communities on updates on the stalled peace talks.

      The provincial government also actively attends to the rehabilitation and streamlining of former rebels who we call “kauban sa reporma” or KRs (English translation: partners for reforms). To date, there are 185 accounted KRs. Sixty (60) of them surrendered even in the absence of an amnesty proclamation. They have been organized into cooperatives, namely:

   1. The Tuburan Settlers Cooperative based in Ubay which is into farming;
   2. The Bohol Composite Farmers Association that will soon venture into an oil palm plantation; and,
   3. The Rajah Sikatuna Multi-Purpose Cooperative, also into farming and based in the military reservation in Katipunan, Carmen just beside the 302nd Brigade headquarters.

      On this objective, the KRs themselves are active members in the Speakers’ Bureau and share their experiences during pulong-pulongs to make people aware of the hardships and difficulties of the life of a red fighter and the deceptive motives of the local communist group.

      The Provincial Government of Bohol also provides regularly rice and other foodstuff to the members of the Civilian Active Auxiliary (CAA) who comprise the integrated territorial defense system in communities.

      The Legal Assistance for Effective Law Enforcement Program (LAELEP) was established by the provincial government to create an inter-agency coordinating body and provide legal assistance in ISO related cases. It was established years before the IALAG was created.

      Now, allow me to present to you a glimpse of what Bohol is today.

      The number of CPP-NPA influenced barangays was reduced from 305 to 46 in 2005. Armed NPA members went down from 283 in 2001 to 64 in 2004, and to 42 in 2005. The Central Visayas headquarters of the CPP-NPA has moved also to Leyte. The four CPP-NPA front committees in 2001 have been reduced to only one today.

      Our people woke up from their “sleep” with insurgents after realizing that the government is indeed sincere in helping them out of poverty and that the military has a humane face in the campaign. The barangay folks in the affected areas now refuse to give sanctuary to the insurgents who used their barangays as base of operations in the past.

      With the established peaceful environment, Bohol’s economy today has greatly improved.

      The province has consistently ranked as a major tourist destination in the country and No. 1 agricultural producer in Central Visayas for the last three years. Most importantly, we have not only pulled Bohol out from the “Club 20” of the poorest provinces in the country, but is now comfortably ranked 52nd among the 81 provinces. Bohol was also the 2nd most improved province in terms of poverty reduction.

      It has embarked on multi-billion peso mega projects for the development of its roads and bridges, energy and irrigation facilities with the support of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

      This improved peace and development situation has been validated by the following awards and recognition we have received:

    * ISO 14001 from TUV of Germany
    * The Konrad Adenauer Medal of Excellence from the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung and the Local Government Development Foundation for the most highly performing provincial government.
    * The Local Governance Leadership Award (LGLA) as outstanding governor for Bohol’s stewardship into a highly performing province from the Philippine Senate, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Development Academy of the Philippines, Asian Institute of Management, University of the Philippines and the De La Salle University.
    * Award for Continuing Excellence (ACE), the highest award and a rare distinction that the Gawad Galing Pook Foundation confers only to a select and honored few – for Bohol’s sustainable program in eco-tourism, enforcement of coastal and marine laws and the barangay livestock program, as well as the Trailblazing Program Award and the Special Citation on Local Peace Initiatives by the same award-giving body for its Poverty Reduction Program for Peace and Development. Today, Bohol is in the Gawad Galing Pook Hall of Fame.
    * Kalakbay Awards from the Department of Tourism for being the No. 1 Tourism Destination and the outstanding Provincial Tourism Council in 2003.
    * 22 other awards we have received recently; and
    * One of our most valued awards, the Most Outstanding Provincial Peace and Order Council of 2004 as determined by the National Peace and Order Council.

      Likewise, it has attracted the convergence of global funders including various churches to support our development activities.

      All this could be summed up in more economic benefits for the people of Bohol in terms of income, job opportunities, good services, better infrastructures and an improved quality of life.

      The present peaceful environment of Bohol has contributed immensely in the progress and development of the province. And we attribute this, especially our gains in the counter insurgency campaign in Bohol to the convergent efforts of its stakeholders which paved the way to the clearing of four guerilla fronts in 2001 to only one this time.

      Today, Bohol has become the delight of tourists and visitors alike. Most of all, we have given our constituents, the Boholanos, what they have always longed for: a peaceful environment, ripe for economic growth and development.

      Thank you very much!


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