by Miriam G. Desacada
TACLOBAN CITY--For decades, Northern Samar province suffered stunted economic growth that drove high poverty incidence across 569 barangays of its 24 municipalities, as they faced the persistent threat of violence, atrocities, killings and human rights violations by the NPA communist terrorists armed in the guise of insurgency.
Insurgency is a complex challenge that causes a state of depression to the economic life of a community and the normal order of things for law-abiding people that live there. Not only does it instill fear and sow violence to residents, insurgency is like a debilitating disease that impairs the strength and the ability of the people to function well in their daily lives.
Then comes the good news from the young official, Governor Edwin Marino C. Ongchuan, who announced to the media that, starting this month, this disturbing image of his beloved province may soon become a thing of the troubled past.
Northern Samar is on its way to become a province liberated from terrorism and insurgency, he said with a sense of joy and relief. “Definitely, I am happy about this, Northern Samar will no longer bear the stigma of an NPA country,” he said.
As of October this year, “Northern Samar can be considered already an insurgency-free province although the formal declaration by the government and the military will be released next year,” he said.
In the latest interview, Ongchuan told reporters: “As of October, the guerrilla fronts of the NPA are no longer in the province. The remaining 37 identified terrorists ran away from the barangays and fled to the mountains in the boundaries of three provinces of Samar island. Task force ELCAC is aiming to remove these 37 Red-fighters. Hopefully by December, they will be eradicated finally.”
Authorities had classified Eastern Visayas as “the last bastion of insurgency,” with about four of the last five guerrilla fronts of the NPA in the country and operating around Northern Samar.
Major General Camilo Ligayo, 8th Infantry Division commander, earlier told the media that the 8th ID will destroy these terrorists’ fronts. “In three to six months, our forces will be able to end insurgency in the region, particularly Northern Samar.”
The military indeed succeeded in driving away insurgents from the barangays into the mountains, but they must be neutralized soon to confirm the declaration that Northern Samar is insurgency-free.
Successful liberation of the province from terrorist-insurgency influence has been a combination of military, political, economic, and social services, which was carried out by sustained commitment of leadership and political will over the long term.
The political will of Governor Ongchuan punctuated the gains and accomplishments of the military in driving away the curse of insurgency. The province is now freed from the nasty claws of the terrorist-rebels.
Enough is enough, is the message here. The people of Northern Samar, also known as Nortehanons, had enough of this punishment. With emotional liberation, they will now have a greater sense of safety and security, as the threat of rebel activity and its associated dangers may no longer be a daily concern.
A liberated Northern Samar opens up renewed opportunities for personal and professional growth among Nortehanons.
Access to education, employment, and social connections is now possible without the weight of terroristic threats, on top of improved mental health, and lower levels of stress, and anxiety.
Efforts by the government to end insurgency and regain control of a province from rebel forces primarily depends on political will and leadership, factors best exemplified by Governor Ongchuan.
Military action alone is by and large insufficient to eliminate insurgency.
It is crucial also to include non-military strategies, such as sustained, and long-term commitment, as what Ongchuan said “bringing the government and its services closer to the people.”
Ongchuan carried out economic and social measures to address insurgency at its roots------poverty, unemployment, and lack of government’s basic services, among others---in order to build trust and support from the residents to the government, and then eliminate insurgency’s appeal and capacity to operate.
The provincial government of Northern Samar LGU has been conducting Kauswagan Caravan, Ongchuan’s landmark program for barangays where government basic services from various agencies are brought to residents, mostly indigents, of these remote areas.
The caravan served as a one-stop-shop of government services for Nortehanons from the DepEd, the DSWD, PSA, the PNP, the AFP, BFP, DOH, DTI, DA, DENR, DAR, and the Provincial Legal Office, among others.
The military made it clear likewise that the government is ready to welcome the rebels who decide to surrender, offering them livelihood and funds for them to begin a new normal life.
Being free of the stigma also, these former rebels are now more inclined to participate in community-building and help in the healing and strengthening of the province.
That’s why Ongchuan called them the peace-builders.
The rehabilitation and reintegration programs open the floodgates for the rebels’ surrender and return to the fold of the laws.
These were laid out to help them go back into society, find employment, lead productive lives, and help the government in maintaining peace and order.
Ongchuan, in focusing the non-military aspects of countering insurgency and sustaining the trust of former insurgents, said Northern Samar LGU had continued to develop a resettlement housing for them, called Kauswagan Village, which was launched during the term of PRRD in 2018.
“At Barangay Cablangan in Mondragon town, we established Kauswagan Village, a resettlement community for the former rebels where each family will have a single detached unit, built with the help of the NHA (National Housing Authority) and the 543rd Engineering Battalion (under the 803rd Brigade),” Ongchuan said.
“This is to show that the provincial government is doing all it can to improve the lives of the peace-builders.
We have plans also to put up a chapel and school facilities---both elementary and high school---in this village, in addition to provision of agricultural inputs, livelihood training, scholarship programs for their children, and financial aid through the social integration program, said the governor.
A military official said this village is a showcase of the sincerity of the government to help the former rebels reintegrate into the society, which in turn encourage their comrades to yield to the government.
‘The government will do everything it can to achieve justice and lasting peace for all.
I am proud to tell our peace-builders that their wishes of a unified community for a peaceful life will soon be realized,” said Ongchuan.
“For your efforts to make yourselves and your families prosper, our counterpart is to continue supporting you through public services by government agencies. To all my fellow Nortehanons, I am wishing that your lives be strong (marig-on), prosperous (mainuswagon), and happy (malipayon),” he added.
The rebels who had returned to the fold of the law, are now having a normal life in houses they own.
They are attracting and encouraging those who are still hiding in the mountains to go down and avail of government welfare and services themselves.
Northern Samar is endowed with relatively rich in natural resources and fertile soil that most crops can grow on it, but insurgency rendered these inutile or underutilized to the hilt, which otherwise could have driven economic growth to the Nortehanons.
As Northern Samar now transforms into an insurgency-free province, a realization of a beautiful horizon is unfolding before the eyes of all. ---Miriam G. Desacada