CAMP Evangelista would spearhead peace and development efforts in rebel hotspots in Misamis Oriental, the military announced yesterday. Capt. Patrick Martinez, spokesperson of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division here, said the efforts would focus on the delivery of basic services in areas where there is a frequent occurrence on armed clashes between the military and the rebels.

Martinez identified these areas as the villages of Lantad in the town of Balingasag and the adjoining farm village of Kamansi in the hinterlands of Lagonglong, all of Misamis Oriental. The village of Lantad, about 24 kilometers from the highway of Balingasag, was training ground of the communist New People’s Army (NPA) in Northern Mindanao in the ’80s. The farming villages of Kamansi, a bordering village of Balingasag and Lagonglong, have been the site of frequent armed skirmishes between the NPA rebels and the government troopers in recent years, Martinez said.
He said the government intends to develop the areas in line with the government’s policy under its “Internal Peace and Security Plan Bayanihan” program through peace and unity.

The programs and projects would range from medical and dental services, distribution of school supplies, dispersal of seedlings, distribution of foods and free haircuts to the construction of farm-to-market roads and electrification of the hinterland villages. Martinez said a “peace caravan” that would begin in the hinterlands of Kibanban in the town of Balingasag today would signal the start of the program.

He said that, finally, the people in these villages of the tribal communities of the Higa-onon would find their dream of a lasting peace and development coming to reality. For so many years, many lives, properties and opportunities were lost due to the armed conflicts with the government troopers and the communist rebels in the area, Martinez said. Maj. Gen. Oscar Lactao, 4th ID commander, said the peace caravan would “mark the beginning of a new life; a simple event yet touches the hearts of so many people, making them realize that peace is already in their hands, they just have to take hold of it.”

Lactao urged everyone to take part in the government peace advocacies and work together to be able to achieve the common goal through unity and cooperation. –pna