BACOLOD City – The local government unit of Escalante City, Negros Occidental dismissed attempts of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) to undermine their efforts in ending violence and insurgency.
“No amount of threat and intimidation from the communist-terrorists can stop our burning desire to liberate Escalante from their bondage,” said Mayor Melecio Yap Jr.
“As an elected official whose authority emanates from the people, it is my obligation to fulfill my people’s wish for a violence- and insurgency-free city,” Yap added.
Although he did not mention specific incidents, the mayor said these “threats and intimidations will only fuel our concerted efforts to put their barbarity to an end.”
Yap also described the CPP-NPA as desperate in their attempt to malign the city’s efforts in ending the local communist armed conflict in the city.
“(Their) desperation is our motivation to continue our bold action against these anti-peace, anti-development and anti-people communist-terrorists,” he added.
Out of the 26 insurgency-cleared barangays in Negros Occidental, 14 are situated in Escalante, which will receive an assistance of P20 million each under the national government’s Barangay Development Program (BDP).
These are Alimango, Binaguiohan, Buenavista, Dian-ay, Japitan, Langub, Libertad, Mabini, Malasibog, Paitan, Pinapugasan, Rizal, Udtongan, and Washington.
The BDP is a hallmark program of National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) with the end goal of bringing development to former conflict-prone communities.
Each of the villages will receive the assistance in the form of one-kilometer farm-to-market road worth P12 million; classrooms, P3 million; water and sanitation systems, P2 million; health station, P1.5 million; and livelihood projects, P1.5 million.
On Sept. 20, 2019, the northern Negros city made history when it hosted what was considered as the biggest mass surrender of former rebels and members of the NPA in the province, during a peace summit that marked the 34th year of the Escalante Massacre.
Some 2,510 people, who previously fought for and supported the communist-terrorist group, took their oath of allegiance to the Philippine government during the event. (PNA)
