Rico’s gub’l legacy: winning fight vs poverty, insurgency

poverty

By Marlon Balmadrid   

PASAY CITY. – His winning moments as governor for nine years were “moving Bohol out from Club 20 – the 20 poorest provinces in the country, and ending the over four decades of communist insurgency therein”.

Thus Rep. Erico Aumentado (Bohol, 2nd District) Friday told the Rotary Peace Festival panel discussion at the Mall of Asia SMX Convention Center, this city.

The solon represented the local government units (LGUs) upon the unanimous endorsement by the Office of the Presidential Assistant on the Peace Process (Opapp) and the military Civil Relations Service (CRS) that have made Aumentado’s Poverty Reduction for Peace and Development: The Bohol Experience a template for replication in other insurgency- and poverty-torn provinces.

Opapp Undersecretary Louie Montalbo keynoted the forum with his address, “We are all for peace: Our gains and winning moments” while Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio “Sonny” Coloma Jr. acted as moderator.

Commenting on the ongoing negotiations, Aumentado said the time is propitious and opportune to push for reaching the elusive peace with the insurgents because Pres. Benigno Aquino III is very popular and highly supported by the Filipino people, hence, the government can negotiate from the position of strength. He noted that the Aquino factor must have forced the MILF to drop its demand of carving a sub-state in Mindanao.

On the Bohol experience, Aumentado, said the problems of poverty and insurgency were interlocking when he assumed office on June 30, 2001. The poverty incidence was 53.6% in 2000, with Bohol No.16 in the country’s poorest provinces list at that time.

The insurgency situation was also “terrifying” as 305 out of Bohol’s 1,109 barangays or 30%, were either influenced, infiltrated or threatened, with 283 armed rebels in four fronts making Bohol the hotbed of insurgency in Central and Eastern Visayas.

In response, the provincial government drafted a peace and development framework centered on poverty reduction with the goals of not only removing Bohol from Club 20 but also reducing poverty incidence by 50% in 2015 under the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) commitment. The development thrust, he said, was focused on attaining peace and security in the province.

The major anchor in Bohol’s successful two-pronged fight was the establishment of Team Bohol with the civilian, military, police authorities, the private sector and even the churches of various denominations becoming major components in the strategy on building alliances and bridges.

The active collaboration of then Tagbilaran Bishop Leopoldo Tumulak, now military ordinate, and then Col. Juanito Gomez, 302nd Infantry Brigade Commander, who later on became major general commanding the 7^th Infantry Division, strengthened the provincial government’s mobilization efforts for all sectors to re-direct their programs to poverty reduction for peace and development. The massive infusion of official development assistance and national government support as well as the LGU-led campaign resulted to the success on the twin fight.

The end result, Aumentado said, was the declaration by the United Nations Development Programme Philippines 2005 Human Development Index Report that Bohol was out from Club 20 and occupied the 41^st position in the higher level of provinces. In fact, Bohol was the No.2 best performing province in poverty reduction which was reduced from 53.6% to 29.2%.

The poverty incidence was further reduced the following year when the National Statistics Coordination Board of NEDA reported that Bohol went up higher in the stratum of highly performing provinces in poverty reduction to the extent that it has moved further upwards to the 52^nd position, with the poverty level pegged at about 26.7%. The reduction attained for Bohol its goal of reducing by 50% in advance of its MDG commitment.

In the anti insurgency front, then Col. Alan Luga, then 802nd Brigade commander, declared that the four communist fronts in Bohol were already dismantled in 2009. Consequently, Maj. Gen. Arthur Tabaquero, 8^th Infantry Division commanding general, and P/Chief Supt. Lani-o Nerez, Central Visayas police director, with then Defense Sec. Norberto Gonzales, officially declared Bohol as insurgency free on February 11, 2010 during the inauguration of the rebel returnees’ Bayanihan Center, a joint project of the provincial government, the Presidential Management Staff and Opapp in Remedios, Danao.

Aumentado noted that all the brigade commanders from Col. Cardozo Luna to Luga who collaborated with him in winning the fight against poverty and insurgency in Bohol were all promoted to general, with then Col. Jessie Dellosa to lieutenant general as the highest military official for becoming the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines today. Already major general, Luga is now the Bicol military commander.

The solon also cited other major accomplishments during his three-term gubernatorial stint – the multi-billion peso mega projects such as the Bohol Circumferential Road, the Bohol Irrigation Project and the Leyte-Bohol Interconnection Project, the Strong Republic Nautical Highway and RoRo ports development in Tagbilaran, Tubigon, Ubay and Jagna, the concreting of major tourism highways, the surge of tourism in the province, development of hospitals and health services, education and livelihood projects for the people.

In sum, he said, good governance and the seal of good housekeeping, transparency and accountability, and bringing the government closer to the people especially in the NPA territories have broken the backbone of the communist insurgency in Bohol.

The military and police authorities, he said, together with the church leaders, business, civic and community leaders all worked together to bring about peace and development of the province with the LGUs acting as catalysts.

To prevent the re-entry of the NPAs, the solon said, the Bohol Local Integrated Security System (BLISS) should be continued and strengthened so that its network can continue to function as a deterrent force against the return of the communist rebels and other lawbreakers as well.

He added that what he did for Bohol augers well for a peaceful Philippines, ripe for development under reformist President Aquino.

Aside from Aumentado and Montalbo, other panelists for the executive branch were Police Gen. Samuel Pagdilao, PNP and Brig. Gen. Leo Ferrer, military; Cecile Alcantara, Industry: Jurgette Honculada, peace negotiating team: Fr. Edwin Garinguez, church: Karen Tanada and Jasmine Galace, NGOs: and Paulo Benigno Aquino, youth leader.