President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has asked the Armed Forces to be "bringers of peace" in a bid to sustain peace in Davao Region which has been declared as insurgency-free.
Speaking at a program in Davao City declaring Davao Region as insurgency-free and relaunching it as a tourism and investment-ready destination, Marcos told the military that from being asked to "war fighters", they are now urged to be "bringers of peace."
This, he said, would be crucial in sustaining the peace in the region, which, he believes, cannot just end with the declaration.
"We must see these developments that perhaps in a way we can say that the Armed Forces, the uniformed forces in our country, your mission has shifted, it has changed a little bit. Whereas before, we asked you to be war fighters. Now, we ask you to be bringers of peace," he said.
The President cited the "success" of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) program which carries a whole-of-a-nation concept in dealing with insurgency.
"And that whole-of-nation concept that was attached to the NTF-ELCAC was I think what brought us success. Because instead of the rebel returnee or even the rebel fighter --- instead of them only dealing with the military, now they deal with the entire government," he said.
"And the success of the NTF-ELCAC program and all of the efforts of our military, of our police have shown in the reaping of the benefits that we celebrate today that the Davao provinces are insurgency-free," he further said.
The chief executive said the government must take "optimistic but cautious steps" in achieving long-lasting peace and order in the region.
The country, he said, needs to sustain it with the whole-of-nation approach to peace and development to prevent terrorist and lawless elements from recruiting, regrouping, and regaining power over our countrymen.
"We cannot afford to go back to square one," he said.
"Thus, I call on our armed forces, government agencies, LGUs (local government units), and communities to continue working together to seize the gains in the region and ensure that we will carry this momentum towards the future," he added.
Tourism, investment destination
Marcos believes that "there is no better way" to commemorate the eradication of insurgency in Davao than to declare the region as a tourism and investment-ready destination.
He said Davao has an active and vibrant economy and businesses there are doing better than the national averages but security problems have held their progress back.
So, he believes that it is only right to declare the region as a tourism and investment destination following the insurgency-free declaration.
"So peace and progress always go hand-in-hand. One cannot do without the other as both elements are essential to create an environment that is able to thrive and reach its full potential amidst our rapidly changing world," Marcos said.
"This declaration serves as a timely platform to once again boost Davao’s post-pandemic economic growth and leverage the region’s abundant resources and opportunities," he added.
He also expressed that the developments achieved in Davao will be replicated in other parts of the country to reverse the impacts the pandemic has brought the country.