CITY OF TABUK, Kalinga– Local government units and frontline national line agencies that compose the Provincial Task Force To End Local Communist Armed Conflict (PTF-ELCAC) will conduct consultations in the 16 insurgency-affected barangays in the province this month.
Based on the Armed Forces of the Philippines report, the province has three influenced barangays (Mabaca and Poswoy in Balbalan and Tanglag in Lubuagan) and 13 less influenced barangays (Western Uma, Upper Uma and Lower Uma in Lubuagan; Guina-ang in Pasil; Dupag of Tabuk City, barangays Balantoy (Sitio Ligayan), Gawa-an and Ab-abaan of Balbalan; and the barangays Ba-ay, Apatan, Wagod, Ammacian (Sitio Bonnong) and Limos in Pinukpuk.
Governor Ferdinand Tubban during the recent joint Provincial Peace and Order Council-Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Council told the task force to include these barangays under the Pumiyaan project of the provincial local government which has the same aim with Executive 70 or the whole of nation approach to end insurgency.
The Pumiyaan is a poverty reduction program of the LGU that uses the convergence concept of public service delivery. The poorest barangays in the municipalities are identified and are given priority in the delivery of services by the provincial and line agencies. In identifying the priority projects to be implemented, the target barangays undergo participative situational analysis.
Tubban stressed the need for a coordinated move among stakeholders in solving the insurgency problem and a concerted effort to end it, with the affected communities identifying the solutions and the LGUs assisting in providing interventions.
Provincial DILG Director Mayer Max Adong agreed with the governor saying that in order to achieve significant impact, the task force has to converge its services similar to the “Pumiyaan” approach where frontline services are pooled and delivered in those places.
The Provincial Poverty Reduction, Livelihood and Employment Cluster of the TF ELCAC chaired by TESDA earlier met with its members that committed their respective interventions in said areas. **JDP/PAB-PIA CAR, Kalinga
