Friday, September 21, 2007 Ledesma: Winning hearts By Jun Ledesma Sunbursts
THE amnesty offer for New People's Army (NPA) combatants bodes well for the rebels, their families, and the communities which had been their sanctuary through the years. Let us face it. The communist ideology that they were indoctrinated with has lost its relevance.
The countries where this was conceptualized had metamorphosed into capitalist societies and have proven that the dynamics of democracy is the better system.
While we complain of suppression of human rights and abuses here and there, nothing can proximate the atrocities that happened and are still happening in nations were communist ideology prevails. Dictatorship of the proletariat is utopian and in a country where liberty is prized this cannot possibly take root. We cannot degenerate to a system that stagnates growth and restricts freedom.
There is romanticism in Mao's ideology for example. It is an opiate to the political adventurism of the youth, to those who were victims of abuse of those who wield power and authority. But in reality it is quixotic. Even the CPP/NPA Supremo, Joma Sison, and his comrade Luis Jalandoni opted to stay in celestial Netherlands. They knew that their struggle is futile against the dramatic tide of political change in China and Russia which were then the bastions of communism.
Amnesty is a short path back to normalcy. But then again, the government must evaluate carefully the effectiveness of the program. While the sum of money in exchange for their guns and return to the folds of the law helps this can barely sustain them in the long run. As quickly as the come down from the hills they too might run quickly back to the hills if after the palliative offer what awaits them is misery.
Governor Rodolfo del Rosario of Davao del Norte expressed all-out support to the amnesty program. He is prepared to come up with a sustainable project to give this meaning and significance. RDR in fact has a ready program which his son, former Vice Governor Anthony del Rosario, now the provincial government chief planning and program implementation officer has been busy with. I asked Anthony what is this about. He said that Governor del Rosario has crafted a program to address poverty problem in the province. They aid in the capability building of families and communities so that they can hurdle the scourge of poverty and attain a better quality of life. "We call this minimum basic needs (MBN) approach, meaning a family must be able to have a decent means of livelihood, shelter food and education for their children," Anthony explained briefly. It will consume a lot of space if I were to detail what the program is all about.
Governor del Rosario is even more passionate about this. He said that poverty, like plague, can be wiped out. He said that the reason why he wants the Talaingod-Valencia road completed is that he wants to open up new frontiers for development. He envisions a new resettlement area where rebel returnees can engage in productive endeavor. The province will use its equipment and resources to prepare arable lands for cultivation. We will build roads to connect the farm gates of the resettlement areas to the markets, he said.
The last time I talk to RDR over the (cell) phone, he was on a platform off the coast of Panabo where he inspected test fish cages in a protected marine zone. He described the project as a total success and looks forward to marginal fishermen to band together to a cooperative so that they can avail of cheap source of funding for them to be able to set up fish cages. The return of investment is quick and the yield is very profitable he said. I believe him because I know of a former newspaperman who went into a modest fish cage venture somewhere in the coastline of Glan or Alabel and made a fortune. He never returned to journalism anymore.
Governor del Rosario on the hand hopes that President Arroyo will consider his proposal to set up a dam in Saug river in Asuncion, Davao del Norte. He already had a feasibility study made. The cost is about P700-million but it's cheap if one considers the benefits: 8,000 hectares of idle lands to be irrigated, hydro electric power enough to run industries and light up houses in the province and potable water for at least five municipalities to include Tagum City.
BTW, I heard that General Carlos Holganza is going to be relieved and will be given a new assignment at the GHQ. I'd say this is wrong timing. At a time when the general is succeeding in luring NPA rebels back to the folds of the law, even making warring politicians embrace each other for unity and pledge to help in the campaign of providing aid to rebels, his relief is ill-advised. I hope that President Arroyo and AFP Chief of Staff General Esperon give this a serious thought. Allow Holganza at least another six months to achieve the rest of his agenda.
Have you heard this? Philamlife will sign a MOA with the University of Mindanao (my publishers alma mater and mine) Friday. Philamlife will provide the funds to train teachers on English proficiency. No less than Philamlife President Joey Cuisia will be around to the signing ceremonies. UM President Willie Torres will represent the university. This is just one of the few community outreach programs of the country's leading insurance firm. It has various scholarship programs and even projects in strife-torn Basilan. I should know this, my wife Jay is Philamlife VP for Mindanao.
