BESAO, Mountain Province – The municipal council approved a resolution imposing a total ban on the presence and the conduct of various activities of the Communist Party of the Philippines – New Peoples Army (CPP-NPA) and the National Democratic Front (NDF) and other lawless elements within the jurisdiction of the municipality and declaring them as ‘persona non grata, in the said locality.
Resolution No. 2019-67, series of 2019 stated that after a series of armed encounters between the government forces and the NPA rebels and other lawless elements in the different parts of the municipality over the past several years, there has been total disruption in the sources of livelihood of the people considering that thousands of farmers have been denied of their freedom to visit their fields, especially within the vicinity of the different encounter sites, thereby causing huge agricultural losses on their part and other emotional and psychological effects to humans.
The resolution added that the mere presence and the conduct of the desired activities of the NPA rebels and other lawless elements in the municipality had always brought unjust disruption of peace and order like what happened during the encounter of the government forces and the rebels in Dandanac, Tambuan on July 14-15, 2018 and the latest incident in sitio Naltit, Soquib on October 24, 2019 among other encounters in the past that even the municipal hall had not been spared from such atrocities.
The resolution stipulated that it is high time for the local government to come out with a bold position on the previous atrocities because it is the peace and order of the municipality and the sources of livelihood of the people that have been compromised which should not be actually the case.
Aside from the serious repercussions of the series of encounters between the government forces and the communist rebels to peace and order and the sources of livelihood of the people in the town’s 14 barangays, local officials claimed that the confidence of prospective investors in considering the town as an venue to infuse their capital for identified prospective businesses have been also compromised thereby depriving the opportunity for growth and development that will translate to increased job creation and provision of added income to the coffers of the municipality.
Besao is one of the municipalities that was identified to be the recipients of interventions that will be implemented by the concerned government agencies involved in the local task force to end local communist armed conflict.
The resolution was signed by Vice Mayor June Lopsoten and Councilors Joel D. Lacsigen, Elizabeth A. Buyagan, John M. Antiyag, Dennis Bing-il, Edna S. Kibangen, James B. Badongen and William S. Beswilan.
The declaration of the NPAs as ‘persona non grate’ in the municipality is part of the government’s initiative to make people aware of the doubtful activities of the communist rebels who simply want to take advantage of the situation in the rural areas to be able to advance their interest as a group to overthrow the government by winning the hearts of the poor people in the countryside.
By HENT
