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By LITO RULONA
Correspondent

Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC) chairman and Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Oscar Moreno has recommended the implementation of infrastructure projects to counter the peace and order problem in the hinterlands of northern Mindanao and Region 12 region.

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Moreno issued this recommendation during the National Peace and Order Council (NPOC) held in Malacañang last Friday attended by all regional peace and order council president and officers.

He is pushing for the implementation of infrastructure projects in the Kalabugao Plain, the tri-boundary of the provinces of Misamis Oriental, Bukid-non, and Agusan Del Sur, to counter insurgent activities.

In an interview over a local radio station over the weekend, he said the Kalabugao Plain has seven barangays and a total land area of about 51,000 hectares. He recommended a provincial road that would traverse the Damay-Kalabugao lines in Bukidnon.

He said that the development of the Kalabugao Plain is important because it affects other parts of Mindanao.

“We encourage the implementation of the local initiatives for peace and order. It is now recommended for a teamwork of civilian government, police, and military. And of course all the the national civilian government are also encouraged,” he said.

He said all the government agencies like Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Agriculture, Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Education and all government line-agencies to implement programs in insurgency affected areas.

“Convergence ang direction karon apil ang Provincial government towards barangay level,” he said.

Moreno said the same approach was made when they implemented infrastructure projects going to Lantad, Balingasag, Misamis Oriental in the mid 90s. The project is the convergence of all provincial-based government agencies by bringing the government closer to the people.

Karon lahi na. Insurgents are recruiting IPs now. The underline arrangements are panginabuhi and that’s true in other areas in the country. The government should bring development to the (hinterlands),” he pointed out.

Moreno said northern Mindanao which covers part of the Region 12 has a common problem like insurgency initiated by the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (NPA-CPP-NDF) and other organized syndicated groups.

“Insurgency ang atua unlike sa western side which is more on Maute, ISIS and other terrorist groups. In the eastern side, we (have been) urged by Region 12 to organize a bigger group including Caraga to implement more programs to counter insurgency incidents,” he said.

The RPOC plays a vital role in maintaining the peace and order situation in every region of the country. As a coordinating body, there is indeed a necessity to conduct regular meetings to keep all members abreast of the prevailing condition, to thresh out issues and concerns affecting peace and order of the area of jurisdiction, and to come up with a collective decision.

The conduct of regular meetings will ensure that issues and concerns raised by the subegional peace and order councils will be duly addressed by this body or may be referred to the concerned member agency as deemed appropriate.

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