Governor Roel Degamo welcomes the “conflict-manageable” or “insrugenrcy-free” tag recently awarded to the province of Negros Oriental.
As the Governor said, the name or the term does not really matter as what is important is the fact that the provincial government under his administrations has decreased to the minimum the insurgency problem in the province.
The Governor issued this statement during the recently concluded Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC) meeting held at the old Sanguniang Panlalawigan Session Hall.
During the said meeting, the Armed Force of the Philippines, through 302nd Brigade Commander Brigadier General Francisco Patrimonio, presented the latest assessment of the status of the insurgency movement in the province.
The report showed a very manageable insurgency situation as concretized by the dwindling of the number of insurgents, their mass base, and their areas of concerns in Negros Oriental.
The above-mentioned reasons are the bases used by the military in issuing its declaration which will be formally signed on May 7 in a formal ceremony expected to be attended by the high ranking officials of the Department of National Defense (DND), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP).
Governor Degamo admitted this is another great accomplishment of the provincial government in relation to its vision of attaining real peace and development in the province.
He thanked all the sectors which serve as his partners namely the AFP, the PNP, the various uniformed services and law enforcement agencies, and most of all the private sector and the public in general.
However, the governor also said that it is as this point where the real challenge starts because he believes that addressing the insurgency problem is one thing but sustaining the peace and development effort is another thing.
He said it is not enough that we have minimized the problem to a “conflict manageable and development ready level” but we also need to continue to come together so that we will not anymore provide those who push for other ideologies the opportunities to strengthen their movement.
“This is also an opportunity to show to the people the presence of the government especially in addressing their basic needs in or order to uplift their quality of life,” he said.
“Mao na kini ang dakong hagit karon natong tanan nga mga namunuan sa tanan nga level sa kagamhanan,” the governor added.
He also readily accepted the challenge of handling the fight against insurgency in the province due to the fact that concerns on internal peace and security will be turned over to the LGUs and the PNP.
General Patrimonio, on the other hand, said that the AFP will continue to have its presence felt in the province but its role in as far as internal peace and security is concerned will be more of the supervisory level in support to the LGUs and the PNP.
In fact, this is the main reason why the PNP has initiated the SCOUT training for PNP personnel in preparation for this new direction of the national government.
Governor Degamo said he is very happy with this development because the attainment of this goal happens under his reign as governor of the province.
“Actually, we have so many people, institutions, organizations and agencies to thank for because we in the provincial government could not claim this achievement as ours alone. I would say this is for all of us, the Negreneses,” the governor said.
In order to sustain this, the governor promised he will continue to bring about aggressive efforts in coordination with the various agencies of government and the private sector.