By ERWIN ‘AMBO’ DELILAN
THREE were killed and six were injured.
Then, more than 18,000 individuals were affected with more or less 3,000 sheltered in 18 evacuation centers.
These were the byproducts of the seven-day skirmish between government troops and Negros rebels in the hinterlands of Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental last week.
Such led Himamaylan to become “infamous” in the worldwide web (www).
But wait, there’s also “beauty” in it – candid acknowledgment, great realization! And with that, I admire Himamaylan City’s Mayor Raymund Tongson (MRT) for not “faking the truth”.
MRT, sans pretension, told the media that the very root cause of the problem is the government’s neglect of the people in the hinterlands.
“Wala na ang tawo gasalig sa gobyerno,” the mayor voiced with confidence.
What happened was, indeed, a “costly neglect” inherited by his administration.
So, no one wants to blame (pointblank) the people up there in barangays Carabalan, Buenavista and Cabadiangan for trusting the New People’s Army (NPA). Yes, for some, such kind of a trust is absurd.
But where’s the government in times of needs? May we condemn them, but reality dictates government abandoned them. So, whom can they trust? That’s the burning question now.
That’s why MRT vowed to double-time with their efforts (by doing anything under the sun) just to address the basic needs of their people in the hinterlands.
“We’re now in an extreme scenario, so, time na para ipakita ta ang government resources sa tawo kag ibalik ta gid ang pagsalig sang tawo sa gobyerno,” he stressed.
“Literally,” MRT added, “we’ll neutralize the situation sa kabukiran.”
Then, Negros Occidental’s Gov. Bong Lacson said, “We’ll sit down with Mayor Tongson to know what’ll be their priorities in addressing the (insurgency) problem in their city.”
Too, the governor assured Himamaylanons that the provincial government is “beyond willing” to help their city attains an insurgency-free status soonest.
‘HOT BED’ OF INSURGENCY
Another striking admittance came from Brigadier General Inocencio Pasaporte, commander of the Army’s 303rd Infantry Brigade in Negros Island.
In a radio interview on Radyo Negrense, General Pasporte confessed that the hinterlands of Himamaylan remain a “hot bed” of insurgency in Negros Island.
Agrarian reform issues, road lack, poverty, others caused insurgency to persist there.
But he’s in high hopes still that via Barangay Development Projects (BDP) under the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) such “distasteful truth” shall be addressed as soon as possible.
Then, he batted for immediate livelihood programs / projects aimed at uplifting the economic status of the hinterlands’ populace.
Yes, General Pasaporte was “elated” with the major accomplishment of his troopers in killing NPA’s top honcho Romeo V. Nanta alias “Juanito Magbanua” on the fifth day of the battle.
But human as he is, he confided that it was also very difficult for him to explain to the immediate families of his fallen soldiers – corporals Christian Drilon and Rex Verde – what went wrong on the fourth day of encounter.
Quite touching!
POVERTY OR RADICALIZATION?
If former Presidential Communications Operations undersecretary Lorraine Badoy is to be believed, it is radicalization and not poverty as the main cause of insurgency.
Maybe she has a point. But I tend to believe with the confession-slash-contention of MRT that government’s neglect created the chaos.
Reading lots of articles about the insurgency, it’s undeniable that the common denominator is poverty as a precipitating factor that forces people to join the armed struggle. And it is in the impoverished communities that insurgency thrives.
A classic example for this is the Boko Haram insurgency in North-Eastern Nigeria. There, the so-called systematic poverty was specifically identified as causer of rebellion. Hence, the wisdom of NegOcc’s 5th District congressman Dino Yulo about insurgency is irrefutable.
Cong. Dino stressed only “politics of the stomach” can conclude insurgency.
“No one will be up in arms with busog ang tiyan,” he justified.
Absolutely correct!
GREAT REMINDER
Thus, the latest Army-NPA clash in Himamaylan City will serve as a great reminder not just for politicos and the Army, but for all of us that we still have brethren up there in the mountains. And like us here in the plains, they, too, need government support.
They also want to live decently by having access to food, power, potable water, roads, bridges, etc. Neglecting them is like breeding louts that’ll soon create a “hell” for all of us.
Worse, when they show their angst and fangs, it’ll be costly for government to address the mess anymore. Pity the soldiers.
War ain’t a solution. As stressed by Gov. Lacson, “In war, no one wins!”/PN
