Vice President Sara Duterte on Wednesday, May 24, cited the significant gains by Dabawenyos against the communist rebels during a program in which Davao City marked the first year of being insurgency-free.
Vice President Sara Duterte delivers a message during the first anniversary of the insurgency-free Davao City on Wednesday, May 24. (Photo courtesy of Davao City Information Office)
Speaking during the first anniversary of the insurgency-free Davao City, Duterte said that the New People’s Army (NPA) were three words she “once avoided mentioning” as she did not want to dignify its presence and monstrosity for its terrorist acts over the past 53 years.
“But I realized that we needed to speak of the devil. But speak of the devil not with fear but with the resolve, the bravery, the tenacity of real patriots determined to defend our fellow Filipinos, particularly our children, and our homeland,” she said in her 13-minute message.
“We needed to speak of the devil if only to defeat the devil. And we did,” the Vice President pointed.
Duterte, co-vice chair of the government’s anti-insurgency task force, marked the first anniversary of Davao City’s insurgency-free status by recalling how Dabawenyos claimed their freedom.
“Freedom from the shackles of a group that has, for decades, through a bloody armed struggle, perpetuated a cycle of violence that trapped many poor Filipino families, especially those living in the countryside such as our lumad brothers and sisters,” she said.
The vice co-chairperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) took note of accomplishments made by the local leaders and the law enforcement units against the communist insurgency.
She also thanked peace advocate and adviser Inday Irene Santiago for being the woman behind the Peace 911 initiative, through which the then Davao City mayor helped transform the far-flung community of the city’s Paquibato District which used to be a “stronghold” of the NPA.
The district was declared “insurgency-free” before Duterte ended her term as mayor in 2022 to run for the vice presidency.
“The civilian-led program Peace 911 won the hearts of the people of Paquibato through projects and programs that offered them the opportunity to become productive, provided them with livelihood, made them discover new skills, capacitated women, and built their confidence as individuals and as a community,” Duterte said.
“Peace 911 is an empowering tool. An education tool. This allowed the people of Paquibato to unmask their enemies,” she added.
Duterte also mentioned the death of a four-month-old girl in Talakag, Bukidnon in an NPA ambush in November 2016, and the death of a fish vendor who died after falling into a coma after being hit by a NPA landmine in Barangay Mandug in May 2017.
“Terrorism is a dangerous enemy. The NPA, for one, does not care if you are a member of the military, police, or civilian body,” Duterte said.
“The threat of a terror group like the NPA to the lives of Filipinos, the future of our children, and our most cherished democratic ideals is real,” she added.
The Vice President ended her message with a call to sustain the government’s active peacebuilding efforts.
“As we move forward, I hope that one day soon, we wake up to the news that the entire Philippines is already NPA terrorist-free. Let us make this happen,” she said.