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Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Editorials: All-out war, Cebu style
That Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia has declared her own version of an all-out war against the communist rebels is not surprising.
The governor is not only allied with President Arroyo, who has earlier made the same declaration, she is also head of the Regional Peace and Order Council.
Besides, there is no love lost between her administration and the Left, as shown by the previous verbal exchange between Capitol officials and militants on the handling of suspected rebel leaders like Edgardo Sacamay.
To expect the governor to go soft on rebels is not to know the situation she is in.
‘All out’
One can ask, however, how the national declaration of all-out war will translate in the local level, considering the estimated strength of the rebels in Cebu.
In Central Visayas, for example, troop deployment and resources will be heaped on Bohol and Oriental Negros where rebel activities are more telling and, in the case of the latter, complicated (insurgent operation there straddle the entire Negros Island).
Which means that an all-out war against insurgents in Cebu may not necessarily look like the kind of war that will be waged in other provinces of the country.
As it is, one cannot expect the massing of government troops in the mid-north towns of Cebu. Even the proposal of forming Citizen Armed Forces Geographical Units will be scrutinized in keeping with national priorities.
As for summary executions and other human rights violations, that would be difficult to execute considering the vigilance of the media and Cebu being the biggest urban center outside of Metro Manila.
Doable
But there are things that the Provincial Government can do on its own in the context of the all-out war declared by President Arroyo.
It is not coincidental, for example, that—where the rebellion has thrived—in the hinterlands of mid-north Cebu, the backwardness and the sad state of the economy, among others, are apparent.
While developing the area can’t be done in a rush, Capitol can allocate funds for projects designed to improve the area’s infrastructure and for programs that would counteract the perception of neglect there.
What may be a stumbling block here is partisan politics, considering that some of the mayors and barangay officials are not on good terms politically with the governor.
But surely, this is the kind of challenge that Garcia won’t back off from.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (June 27, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
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