BAGUIO CITY – Local and national government agencies have been tapped to help in the government’s anti-insurgency efforts, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) said.
Maj. Gen. Edgardo de Leon (ret.), OPAPRU-Cordillera Adviser on Peace and Security, said during the media orientation on localized peace engagement and transformation program here Monday that information and education campaigns will reveal the real nature of insurgency.
“It is now the PLGUs (provincial local government units) and national governments’ approach while the security sector pursues the armed remnants,” he said.
De Leon explained that “once they (PLGUs) are assured that the masses, the voters are no longer supportive of the cause of the insurgents, they also start to end their support to the terrorists.”
He said communities have ended their support to the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army with strong government presence felt even in far-flung communities and in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas.
He explained that former rebels also contribute to the anti-insurgency program because their information help local governments formulate programs.
“If we understand the problem, it is easier to take solutions,” De Leon said. “Our government has realized that the fight to end insurgency is not just the task of the security cluster but a whole of government acting (and) using resources from different offices and clusters.”
During the same event, OPAPRU-Cordillera Peace Program Officer Fr. Adonis Bringas said infrastructure, capacity building and livelihood provided by the Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Science and Technology, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, and Commission on Higher Education assure the communities and former rebels of the government’s desire to end insurgency and improve their lives.
“For 2025, (OPAPRU) Secretary (Carlito) Galvez (Jr.) has committed PHP600 million support fund to the Cordillera region to further help in improving the people’s lives,” Bringas said. (PNA)
