Revalidation of conflict-stricken Samar areas sought

CATBALOGAN CITY, Samar, Jan. 30  -- Top leaders in Samar Island were urged to reassess the areas to be included in the implementation of road for peace projects by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPPAP).

The reassessment will help poor communities get a bigger share of budget for OPPAP-funded projects intended to end decades of insurgency, according to Samar Governor Sharee Ann Tan-de los Santos in an interview Monday.

The provincial governments of Northern Samar and Eastern Samar passed resolutions for the reassessment of areas covered by the Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (Pamana).

The roads and bridges projects are the national government's convergence program that extends development interventions to isolated, hard-to-reach and conflict-stricken communities, ensuring that they are not left behind.

Only 10 local government units in Eastern Visayas are currently included in the list of Pamana areas.

These are San Jose de Buan and Matuguinao in Samar province, Silvino lobos, Las Navas, Catubig, Lope de Vega, San Roque and Mondragon in Northern Samar; Maslog and Jipapad in Eastern Samar.

In the resolution of Eastern Samar province, they want to include Borongan City, Arteche, Oras, Dolores, Can-avid, San Julian, Hernani, Llorente, and General Macarthur towns.

Last year, Samar Island got a meager budget in the implementation of Pamana with only PHP447 million funding from the PHP20 billion budget in 2016.

The insurgency-free declaration in some areas in Samar by the military prompted the government to cut funding for the three Samar provinces despite the presence of New People’s Army in some villages, according to Tan, the chairperson of the Eastern Visayas Regional Peace and Order Council.

“I am really sensitive in the declaration of insurgency-free. Yes, I know that there are areas that are free from insurgency, but there are also communities where presence of rebels is still felt,” Tan explained.

“I always raise this issue during my discussion with top officials of the Philippine Army and the Philippine National Police not to sugar coat the situation just because of the directives from the higher-ups. I always tell them to assess the real situation on the ground before issuing such declaration,” she added.

Pamana Samar Area Manager Emilda Bonifacio asked local government units in Samar province to hasten the submission of their new recommended areas as she confirmed that insurgency-free status declarations have lowered allocations for such projects.

“I think this has to be revalidated if the information is true. It would be better if we will base our information from the ground than base it from the central office,” Bonifacio said.

She added that aside from insurgency problem, their agency was also looking to include poverty as basis for an area to be listed as recipient. (RTA/PNA)