The mayor of Basey in Samar welcomed the deployment of teams under the Retooled Community Support Program (RCSP) as a tool for peace and development.
This occurred during a Send-Off Ceremony for the RCSP Teams on Monday July 20, 2020 held at Basey National High School, at the town proper of Basey, a 1st class municipality of 55,480 people about 25 kilometers from the regional capital of Tacloban.
Basey Mayor Luz Chu-Ponferrada reported that in her first year as local chief executive, town officials had reached even the remote mountain barangays in implementing the RCSP. She attributed this to the full support from the department heads, barangay officials and residents. She added that were it not for the COVID Pandemic, they could have visited more of the town’s 51 barangays. Stressing that the attainment of a peaceful and progressive community cannot be realized without the contribution of many sectors, she assured the RCSP teams of her full commitment by personally bringing service to people.
Meanwhile DILG OIC-Assistant Regional Director Atty. Darwin N. Bibar representing RD Karl Caesar R. Rimando, thanked the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police for their invaluable role in realizing the Send-Off Ceremony. ARD Bibar relayed the message of RD Rimando for the teams to encourage people’s participation in governance by strengthening barangay-based institutions, as well as helping address issues that are the roots of the communist insurgency in the area. He vowed that DILG under the leadership of RD Rimando is fully committed in implementing RCSP and EO 70 in general as the secretariat of the Regional Task Force and as lead agency of various clusters.
Police Regional Director Brigadier General Bernabe M. Balba said that the RCSP Send-Off ceremony is a defining moment for a new strategy against the NPA. “Napagkaitan ang mga kababayan sa liblib na lugar sa Basey ng karapatan na mabuhay ng payapa at maghanapbuhay dahil sa banta ng kaharasan at terorismo. We will not allow this situation to remain for our children and their descendants,” he declared. He hopes that government initiatives will help bring peace and development to Samar which was considered to have the last remnants of communism.
On the other hand, Major General Pio Diñoso, Commanding Officer of the 8th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army, said government has been continuously gaining ground since the issuance of Executive Order 70. He expressed gratitude to the LGU, as resolving insurgency requires not just fighting in the mountains but also by facilitating programs that address issues exploited by the NPAs.
Saying this is the perfect opportunity to develop the town, General Diñoso asked local and barangay officials to help the RCSP teams whom he termed as “agents and warriors” of peace. “They will go to the barangays not for chaos but to bring peace. Dahil sa pangako at magagandang pananalita ng NPA, sumali sila. Ito ang kasundaluhan na tutulungan sila makabalik sa mainstream,” he said.
He acknowledged that in the past the armed forces had failed to provide adequate security, which gave no choice for residents in the hinterlands but to cooperate with the NPA. However, he assured that the soldiers will not leave the residents until the whole island attains a just and lasting peace. In closing, General Diñoso emphasized that the security sector forms only one part and that ELCAC implementation is led personally by the mayor to coordinate the various clusters such as basic sector and local peace engagement, among others.
To close the program, the assembly sang the patriotic song “Bayan Ko”, and had their photo opportunity, starting with the punong barangays and the RCSP teams assigned to their areas, then with the heads of agencies and other local government officials.
The event was organized by DILG through MLGOO Zino Llarinas and the municipal government of Basey. On hand to express their support were Samar Provincial Administrator Anita Taran, BFP Assistant Regional Director Joelito Sabandal; Col. Edwin Buenaventura C. Wagan, PRO8 DRDO / Task Force Commander of SABAMA; Samar Police Provincial Director Col. Andre Dizon; Colonel Edgar Allan Orbito, Commander of 63IB; DILG Samar Provincial Director Judy L. Batulan; Lt. Col. Lenart Lelina, Deputy Brigade Commander of 801st IB; Lt. Col. Recaredo Marasigan of the 12th Special Action Battalion; officers of BJMP; as well as Punong Barangays and municipal department heads of Basey, Samar.
Tacloban City, the region’s capital was formerly a fishing village of the town of Basey which is just across San Pedro Bay. Basey is famous for the majestic Sohoton Cave which features an underground river, as well as for its intricately woven native mats called Banig. ###
