Whenever she is in Davao City and when time permits, Vice President Sara Duterte makes it a point to visit Paquibato District.
Reason is, she wants to ensure that insurgency will not return in the once rebel-infested district.
The vice president also admitted that she fears every day if one or two insurgents/incidents happen again and all the problems in Paquibato will return.
“That is why I always ask kapag umuwi ako kumusta na ang Paquibato and that is the reason why bumabalik pa rin ako doon sa Calinan, Paquibato, Marilog para lang maalala nila kung ano yung dapat na gawin natin para sa kapayapaan,” the vice president said in her message during the opening of the Peace Village: an exhibit of Davao Region’s milestones in peace and development, at the Annex activity center of SM City Davao on Monday.
The vice president shared that when she was still Davao City mayor, she doggedly looked for a solution to address the insurgency in Paquibato by using the P1.2 billion allocation from the peace and order fund.
Through the help of Irene Santiago, former peace adviser to the mayor, Peace 911, which is an initiative of the city government of Davao under the helm of then Mayor Sara Duterte, was born.
“Sabi niya (Irene) may gagawin ako. Sabi niya suportahan mo. Sabi ko oo. P1.2 billion show me tapusin natin yung problema sa Paquibato. Ginawa naming ang Peace 911. This was her brainchild,” the vice president said.
Peace 911 is a comprehensive peace-building and development aiming to address problems and unrest in far-flung communities that have been deprived of government services and interventions.
Established on May 10, 2018, to counter communist rebel forces by strengthening community relations and delivering government services in the area, Peace 911 was piloted in the Paquibato district, a former stronghold of the New People’s Army (NPA).
Duterte also said that the peace that is in the Paquibato District now is a product of Peace 911 and the powerful cooperation forged between the soldiers and civilians.
She also said that the Office of the Vice President (OVP) will bring the Peace 911 to other conflict areas of the Philippines, particularly in the eastern and western parts.
It can be recalled that since Duterte assumed office as vice president, the OVP has brought Peace 911 as among its major projects.
“Gidala namo ang Peace 911 sa Office of the Vice President as a project but we intend to share the project with other areas not in Davao City because bago ko nibaba as mayor tung 2022 Davao City was already declared insurgency-free, So gitan-aw namo ang ubang conflict areas particularly sa tumoy sa Western and Eastern Philippines because these are the islands na duna pa’y conflict-areas,” Duterte told the media.
