Davao del Norte: A show window of peace and development

Last Friday, I had the honor of taking part in the commemoration of the third anniversary of the declaration of Davao del Norte as “insurgency-free,” marking another shining moment for the people of the province.

- PEACE BY PEACE SECRETARY CARLITO G. GALVEZ, JR.

As I stood onstage, I was overwhelmed by a flood of emotions. I recalled the days when as a young military officer assigned in Panabo, Davao del Norte, I almost lost my life during an armed encounter with the Maoist group. By the grace of God, I survived the seven-hour long close battle with the main and sub-regional guerrilla units then under ‘Kumander Bensar, Egod and Parago.’

It is, therefore, remarkable to see how a province, which was once considered the hotbed of the communist insurgency, has transformed into one of the most peaceful and progressive areas not only in the Davao Region and Mindanao but across the country.

We believe there are three key factors that enabled the province to achieve and maintain its insurgency-free status: the whole-of-government approach, localized peace engagements (LPE), and the Transformation Program for former rebels.

Executive Order No. 70, which gave birth to the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), mandated a “whole-of-nation,” approach wherein all sectors of society shall work together to address the decades-long armed rebellion.

Under this whole-of-government approach, national line agencies, local government units, civil society, religious community and the security sector supported and complemented each other’s initiatives to free communities from grip of the insurgent group.

Through the NTF-ELCAC’s 12 lines of effort, the national government pursued a holistic and integrated approach wherein the goal was to address the main roots of the armed rebellion — poverty, marginalization and the lack of economic opportunities.