CAMP BANCASI, Butuan City – The Army’s 88th Infantry Battalion (88th IB) and 524th Engineering Construction Battalion (524th ECB) have facilitated the construction of an Indigenous Peoples’ (IPs) school building, and the opening and improvement of a farm-to-market (FMR) road in Barangay Magsaysay, Quezon town, Bukidnon province.
Together with the local government unit (LGU) of Quezon, troops and engineers of the 88th IB and 524th ECB built the two vital infrastructures in an effort to give comfort to the highland people, 88th IB Civil Military Operations officer Capt. Norven Jay Garcia told The Manila Bulletin on Thursday.
He said the four-kilometer road rehabilitation, and the construction of one unit of two-classrooms for the IP school started on April 6.
“It can be recalled that this was the IP community that strongly denounced their support to the NPA, the 88th IB CMO officer said.
The projects were the result of government interventions after the Community Support Team (CST) of 88th IB, which immersed itself in the community identified that the absence of an FMR and school in the area were used as propaganda by New People’s Army (NPA) terrorists in radicalizing the community, and to recruit IPs to join their terrorist organization.
These projects were the product on the convergence of efforts of different stakeholders of peace and development in identified Conflict Affected Areas (ConAAs) and Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas (GIDAS), the 88thIB CMO officer said.
The projects were funded by the LGU of Quezon and the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS) being implemented by DSWD.
The school will be turned-over to the Department of Education (DepEd) for its administration when it is completed.