Drawing a valuable lesson from Bohol’s success in combating the communist insurgency, the government will mobilize people’s support for civil-military initiatives to finally put an end to the 35-year-old Maoist rebellion, Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesman Ignacio R. Bunye said in his column, The View From the Palace.

He said that through Bohol Gov. Enrico Aumentado’s program of poverty alleviation for peace and development, alliance-building, convergence, community organizing, capability-building and the bayanihan spirit of self-reliance, Bohol has succeeded in defeating the communist rebellion in his province.     

Enhanced civil-military relations to reinforce the people’s support for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and its operations against lawless elements: this is the present thrust of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who believes that “to be effective, the armed forces must have the support of the people as proven successful by the Bohol experience,” Bunye said.

He added that the President also supports the recommendations of the Local Peace and Security Assembly (LPSA) held in Bohol last week for a review of the reservist and reserve force development program of the AFP, the ROTC, and other programs consistent with the doctrine of a Citizen’s Army.

The Palace official said the peace and security resolutions approved during the inaugural meeting of LPSA shall serve as “a blueprint for a stronger and more progressive Philippines.” “Poverty Reduction for Peace and Development” was the theme of the two-day LPSA meeting held at the Bohol Tropics Resort Hotel in Tagbilaran City.

“President Arroyo, the guest of honor during the Local Peace and Security Assembly, was all praises for the Boholanos, ‘from Dagohoy to Aumentado,’”  he added.

“What Aumentado accomplished is really an example of the President’s new ‘paradigm for peace’ in striking at the roots of the insurgency problem,” according to Bunye.

He explained that “this new paradigm employs not just the hard power of military might, when needed, but, more importantly, the soft power of our growing economy.”   

Aumentado, who had served as Bohol congressman, is the national president of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP).

Bunye said that the National Security Council (NSC), which sponsored the LPSA meeting, chose Bohol as the assembly site because it is “truly a success story,” referring to the achievement of the province in its ant-insurgency and poverty alleviation programs.

“Not too long ago, Bohol was number 16 on the list of the country’s 20 poorest provinces, known as ‘Club 20.’ It was also the hotbed of insurgency in Central and Eastern Visayas… Bohol’s economy has since flourished. It is now consistently ranked as a major tourist destination in the country and No. 1 agricultural producer of rice, coconut, palm oil, root crops, fish, seaweeds for carageenan production and livestock in Central Visayas,” Bunye said.

“The best news is that the Bohol experience can be replicated by the other provinces in the country, as long as their leaders have the political will to work for poverty alleviation, peace and development,” he pointed out.

“Aumentado employed a combination of alliance building, convergence, community organizing, capability building and reinvigorating the bayanihan spirit and self-reliance with amazing results,” Bunye said.

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