IN NEG. OCC
Call for peace gaining
ground: military

The increasing number of former New People’s Army rebels who abandoned the armed struggle and joined the mainstream society, that has risen to 89 now, shows that the call for peace in Negros Occidental of Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. and other stakeholders continues to gain ground, Col. Jon Aying, 303rd Infantry Brigade commander, said yesterday.

The provincial government has extended almost P1 million financial and livelihood assistance to the rebel returnees, on top of the Guns for Peace program and the assistance from the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, military records show.

Marañon, state security officials in Negros and rebel returnees have joined the call for localized peace talks, after those on the national level again reached an impasse.

In support of the AFP Winning the Peace program, Aying said the Provincial Peace and Integration Development Unit, in collaboration with the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police, local government units and civil society groups, will launch today the “March for Peace, Serving the Countrysides” in the first district of Negros Occidental.

The activity, which is a combined military visibility operations and civilian humanitarian effort, will be held initially in six hinterland barangays of the first district.

Aying said about 1,100 soldiers will march as a show of force, to give the people in the countryside a sense of security.

For almost a year now, the 303rd Infantry Brigade has been focusing its military operations on the first district, that has dislocated the New People’s Army from their “masa” in the area. This will be complemented by other “winning the peace” activities, Aying also said.

The activities will provide an option for the remaining rebels still hiding in the mountains and waging a senseless armed struggle, to go back to the folds of law, he said.*GPB

back to top

Army improves aid
for rebel-returnees

The Army’s 303rd Infantry Brigade has adopted non-traditional innovations towards “winning the peace” in Negros, designed to ensure food security and provide basic income to its beneficiaries, including rebel returnees, displaced civilians in armed conflict, government militiamen and threatened witnesses.

Capt. Leo Christopher Cunanan, its Civil Military Operations officer, also said yesterday that Col. Jon Aying, 303rd IB commander, recently visited two prominent modern-integrated farms, Fresh Start Organic farm in Silay City, and Peñalosa farm in Victorias City, to study organic farming techniques, that could be applied in their integrated farming system.

He said the adoption of the system as its main tool for the socio-economic enhancement of identified highly-involved individuals and communities in armed conflict is only one of the non-traditional innovations of the military towards winning the peace in Negros Occidental.

The Fresh Start Organic Farm boasts of its vermin-composting, waste segregation, high-quality organic fertilizers and organic products, such as black rice, brown rice and organic coffee, while the Peñalosa Farm is well-known for its odourless and relatively fly-free hog farm, unconventional way of waste management, pro-biotic spraying to prevent the multiplication of flies, plots of medicinal and aromatic herbs, as well as its integrated organic farm.

Cunanan also said the adoption of integrated farming system is also in support of the initiatives of the Negros First Agenda and its 3-year strategic development plan objectives, the social integration program of the national government, and the millennium development goals.*GPB

back to top