BY GEROME DALIPE IV
ILOILO City – Western Visayas enjoys a generally peaceful and secure atmosphere, highlighted by numerous barangays being declared free of communist insurgency by the military. But despite this progress, several challenges persist, according to the Regional Development Council (RDC).
The council noted, too, that the crime volume and solution efficiency rates have improved. Citing a report from the Philippine Army, the council said the Regional Peace and Order Council declared the remaining 80 communist-infested villages in Western Visayas as rebel-free in 2021 yet.
Each cleared village was granted P20 million worth of projects, which totaled P1.480 billion, under the Barangay Development Fund.
But despite the increase in the number of communist-free barangays, the council stressed that Region 6 has yet to achieve zero illegal drug-related barangays.
The council noted that deficiency in the desired police recruitment and police-to-population ratio in highly urbanized cities and provinces remains a challenge.
“The attainment of the desired police recruitment and police-to-population ratio in highly-urbanized cities and provinces remained a challenge due to quota allocations of the PNP Headquarters and stringent deployment procedures,” the council stressed.
There is also a deficiency in personnel and firefighting equipment that needs to be addressed.
Initiatives to achieve just and lasting peace will be implemented through the institutionalization of the Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, which established the 12 lines of efforts of the national and local government in providing socioeconomic development interventions to the communist-infested villages, the council said.
“The whole-of-government approach brought all of the government’s sectors to address the multi-faceted dimensions or just and lasting peace,” the council noted.
The council developed strategies to establish livable communities that will provide people in the region with safe, clean, and inclusive environments and affordable housing with improved access to transportation and critical health and social services.
Under the Regional Development Plan for 2023 – 2028, the council said the three strategies will be pursued in the region. These include safe and inclusive, environment ensured, environmental quality maintained, and built environment upgraded.
“A responsive governance system will provide and sustain these three outcomes of livability,” the council said. It acknowledged the community’s safety is one of the critical factors for a livable community.
“It is crucial for people to feel safe and secure in their homes, and therefore a livable community is a place where crime rates are low and police officers effectively enforce the law,” the council said.
To prioritize this, the council said that investing in peace and security will be pursued.
The council also said the government will continue to implement the programs, projects, and activities of the Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, which will strengthen inter-agency collaboration, focus on environmental protection, and zero in on a participatory approach.
It emphasized that peace and security are rudiments for social and economic transformation.
“Stability allows the implementation of development programs and projects that could bring in more and better opportunities for the people,” the council stressed.
This can be achieved when conflict-vulnerable areas are protected and developed, the quality of life is safeguarded from criminality, and communities are safe from natural hazards and other security threats, the council said./PN
