By PR | 10:22 AM April 15, 2024
The province of Bohol is still a zero insurgency province, the Philippine Army confirmed during the joint Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC) and Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Council (PADAC) meeting at the Capitol’s Sangguniang Panlalawigan Session Hall on April 3.
The meeting was attended by Brigadier Gen. Joey Escanillas of the 302nd Brigade.
The declaration affirms the efforts undertaken by the provincial government under Gov. Erico Aristotle Aumentado in his peace and order initiatives.
To preserve the gains as an insurgency-free province, the formation of the Sentrong Alyansa ng Mamamayan Para sa Bayan (Sambayanan) was proposed during the said meeting.
Sambayanan will be task with institutionalizing and realizing the unified peace framework and objectives of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) to counter the terrorism and deceptive schemes of communist terrorist groups (CTGs).
As a multi-sectoral organization, Sambayanan serves as a campaign and advocacy center promoting reform-centric, collaborative and peaceful means to advance the interests of the Filipino people and rejecting and resisting the terrorism, deceptive and violent armed revolution of the CPP-NPA-NDF.
The creation of Sambayanan was approved during the meeting presided by Vice Gov. Dionisio Victor Balite, the acting chairman in the absence of Aumentado who attended the congressional and Senate hearings on the developments in the Chocolate Hills.
Balite said the Sambayanan will be crucial in Bohol’s efforts to remain insurgency-free and lessen the risk of violence.
Meanwhile, surrenderees of the Kauban sa Reporma (KR) received a total of ₱860,000 last Feb. 12 were beneficiaries of a second financial turnover totaling to ₱610,000 during the Provincial Peace Day last was also given last March 26 with each individual getting ₱10,000.
The peace was shattered last February when law-enforcers clashed with the remnants of the rebel group seeking to return to their former lairs in Bilar town.
