Military pushing Bohol model in peace and dev’t

TAGBILARAN CITY, Philippines  — Military units have been ordered to replicate the “Development for Peace” program in Bohol to their respective areas of responsibility.

This was according to Col. Rafael Valencia, the new commander of the 802nd Infantry Brigade, who paid a courtesy call to Governor Edgar Chatto and the Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC).

Valencia assured the provincial officials that his new leadership will continue the support that his predecessor had extended to Bohol as the military fully supports the efforts to sustain peace in Bohol.

“That’s why Col. Dinoh Dolina is designated here as commander of the Cebu-Bohol Task Group. So that the military can continue focusing on Bohol,” Valencia said.

During the recent command conference at the Central Command in Cebu, Valencia said they were ordered to “look at Bohol as model and try to replicate what is done here to other areas in Visayas to achieve peace and development”.

This way, the other provinces in the Visayas can also benefit from the peace achieved in Bohol, said Valencia, adding that the 802nd IB covers Biliran in Leyte, Southern Leyte, some areas in Cebu, and Bohol.

Dolina, for his part, said the military hierarchy also embraced the provincial government’s purok movement: community development, the plan of which Liza Quirog, head of the technical working group, was presented during the meeting on Wednesday last week.

This development plan was the reason that the CentCom issued the marching order to the various units to replicate it to other islands in the Visayas, Dolina said.

Dolina said the legal fronts of the rebels have continued intensifying mass work and alliance building to recover or rebuild at least one front committee early next year. “They magnify current controversial issues against the government as part of its political agenda to remain relevant in the province of Bohol,” he said.

Dolina also vowed for strict adherence to human rights by the men in uniform, citing the report of Commission on Human Rights Chairwoman Etta Rosales that human rights violations involving the military had reduced.  (FREEMAN)