The series of rollouts of the Oplan Serbisyo sa Kalinaw in the Ata-Manobo communities in Talaingod augurs well with the thrust of the 10th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army to seal the boundary entrances towards Davao Region which has been declared as “insurgency-free.”
Lying in the vicinity of the Pantaron Mountain Range, the municipality of Talaingod in Davao del Norte is identified by the 10ID as the possible entrance of the Communist Terrorist Group (CTG) remnants still operating in the adjacent province of Bukidnon in Northern Mindanao.
Talaingod lies in the Pantaron Mountain Range vicinity at the boundary of Bukidnon province in Northern Mindanao. Still thickly forested, the mountain range straddles the boundaries of Davao Region, Northern Mindanao Region, and the CARAGA Region.
“Sa boundary sa Bukidnon ug Talaingod, naa diha ang North Central Committee nagalihok nga hangtod karon galihok pa (At the boundary of Bukidnon and Talaingod, the North Central Committee operates and is still operating),” Philippine Army 10ID spokesperson Major Mark Anthony Tito said during the latest episode of the Philippine Information Agency’s Kapihan sa DavNor TV program aired “Live” over PTV DavNor 48.
Tito brought back to memory that Talaingod used to be the stronghold of the Southern Mindanao Regional Command of the New People's Army (NPA) for quite some time, before this largely Ata-Manobo populated town was declared “insurgency-free” together with the entire province of Davao del Norte.
Need to sustain
Despite the seemingly peaceful and secure status of the municipality, the provincial government of Davao del Norte still strides to make its presence felt in the hinterland areas of Talaingod.
“Once man gud nga dili ma sustain, ma stop ang mga serbisyo caravans ug ang delivery of services ngadto sa atong mga katawhan, basig makaingon sila nga hangtod didto lang diay to (If we’d not be able to sustain, and stop the delivery of services to the people, they would probably say, It was just up to that time),” Tito said, referring to the period when national and local governments waged aggressive moves to reach the peripheral communities at the height of implementing Executive Order No. 70 dealing on Ending the Local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC).
On top of sustaining the government's presence in the hinterlands of Talaingod, the Davao del Norte provincial government also sought to provide immediate response to those who had been affected by the “stop-buying of Daratex,” a variety of fiber widely assumed to be abaca.
“So need jud nga moadto ta didto aron mahatagan jud ug serbisyo ang mga farmers ng ana apektuhan sa mga stop buying sa Daratex (So we really need to get there to deliver services to farmers affected by the stop buying of Daratex),” said Maria Florencia Cadagdagon, administrative officer of the Provincial Planning and Development Office (PPDO) during the same TV program.
Settlers and Ata-Manobo communities in Talaingod used to widely and commonly plant Daratex variety of fiber sources, assuming those were of Abaca quality, but the Philippine Fiber Industry Development Authority (Phil FIDA) says the fiber industry no longer buys and use Daratex because it taints the fiber quality of abaca, and Daratex is not abaca.
Immediate assistance
The provincial government of Davao del Norte started hauling the Oplan Serbisyo sa Kalinaw to provide immediate relief for those severely affected by the “fake abaca” endeavor on November 7, 2023, accomplishing five rounds of massive service delivery until December 7, 2023.
The PPDO led the Provincial Local Peace Engagement (LPE) EO 70 Cluster in rolling out the Oplan Serbisyo para sa Kalinaw hauled in sitio Basak, Brgy Sto Nino of Talaingod; sitio Tibucag in Brgy Dagohoy; sitios Nasilaban and Central Baugan in Brgy Palma Gil; and Sitio Muling in the municipality of Kapalong.
The delivery of services was noted to have a wide-ranging impact, as it benefited residents in nearby villages aside from those living in the sitios where it was conducted.
The 56th Infantry Battalion assisted the service caravanrollout in the Municipality of Talaingod by mobilizing the residents from neighboring villages to the service delivery sites, while the 60th Infantry Battalion served as the major cooperating agency in organizing the service caravan rollout in Kapalong.
The service caravan in sitio Basak also touched the lives of residents from 10 other sitios: in Tibucag, 22 other sitios; in Nasilaban, 18; in Central Baugan, seven; and in Muling, six other sitios, benefiting a total of 18,195 including children.
Among the government services hauled were medical and dental, agro-forest distribution of seedlings, legal assistance, social services, including hair-cuts with personnel from the Philippine National Police, and enterprise development.
Cadagdagon particularly mentioned that some 50,000 abaca seedlings were distributed. A total of 2,600 families in Talaingod received the Tangungon Abaca seedlings from the Provincial Agriculture Office (PAGRO), while 593 families got the same during the service caravan rollout in Kapalong.
Oplan 2024
This year, the Oplan Serbisyo sa Kalinaw will continue hauling local and national government services in some hinterland areas in Davao del Norte, but Provincial Planning and Development Officer IV Princess Lyn Vistal projected such service delivery to become more comprehensive, not only addressing conflict “but also crime and disorder and illegal drugs.”
Vistal revealed that the Oplan Serbisyo sa Kalinaw has been integrated into the three-year programs, activities, and projects (PAPs) under the Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC).
“This is just one of the programs of Governor Jubahib to achieve just and lasting peace for the Dabaonons,” Vistal said, citing other big-ticket projects such as roads, water system, and rural electrification for far-flung communities.
“Atong jud ipa-feel, ipadangat sa Ilaha nga naa mi dinhi, naa ang gobyerno wala mo gikalimtan (Let’s make them feel, tell them that we are here; the government is here, we have not forgotten you),” she added. (JMDA/PIA Davao del Norte)
