Koronadal City  - DILG XII Regional Director Josephine Cabrido-Leysa expressed appreciation for the first-hand information shared by a former rebel who outlined the CTGs tactics and modes of infiltration and expansion, targeting various targets, among others, like government institutions, schools or labor groups.

This session was one of the major highlights for the second day of the Provincial Planning Workshop on Building Sustainable Peace towards a Peaceful, Inclusive, Just and Equitable Development held at a resort hotel in Koronadal City. The Workshop is in line with EO 70 which institutionalizes the “Whole-of-Nation Approach in Attaining Inclusive and Sustainable Peace, Creating a National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, and Directing the Adoption of a National Peace Framework” which is part of the government’s effort to eradicate local communist insurgency which has persisted for 50 years.

Director Leysa believes that the resource person’s testimony has once again highlighted the severity of the insurgency problem, requiring concerted efforts from all the sectors of the community. In the ensuing open forum after the talk, the resource speaker, a former rebel who used to be a ranking official of the insurgent movement, was able to clarify concerns regarding the various approaches employed by the Communist Terror Group (CTG) which has effectively been used to gain foothold in various sectors.

The Director believes that time is of the essence for EO 70, especially in the downloading of the mechanisms to the “frontliners”, the local government operations officers. These municipal local government operations officers (MLGOOs) will take the task to the barangay level, together with the other partner agencies.

The Workshop, which was sponsored by the DILG Regional Office XII, was attended by more than 300 participants from both the private and government sectors, with representatives coming from all the provinces in the Region.

The session entitled “Sensing the Peace Challenges and Learning the Context of Local –Driven Insurgency”, which featured the former rebel as the resource person, became the jumping board for some serious discussions in the Workshop which would later be utilized to the formulation of countermeasures against the insurgent’s plans of actions.

In the said session, Maj. Mark Anthony U. Ruby, Executive Assistant to the SILG on Security and Operations, served as the moderator. He also provided additional details and insights on the CTGs approaches in winning remote villages and communities to their side. Maj. Ruby served with the then General Ano while on a tour of duty in Region XII.###