Santa ROSA CITY, Laguna—A Department of the Interior and Local Government executive has called on newly-elected village chiefs to cooperate and remained vigilant amid the continuing threat of violent extremism and to never compromise security as everybody’s concern.
DILG Assistant Secretary for Peace and Security Alexander L. Macario made the call during Calabarzon Barangay Leaders’ Regional Summit and Mass Oath-taking at the city sports complex here, where some 4,018 newly-elected village chairpersons in the Calabarzon Region comprising Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon attended.
“ I congratulate and salute all of you newly-elected barangay captains but let me tell also that our Calvary is set to begin this afternoon. You are the key official in-charge as barangay chiefs, therefore exercise your decisiveness, prudence, due diligence and judgement to report any suspicious activity or persons in your jurisdiction as part of good governance,” Macario said.
He said the barangays have been confronted over the years with the threats of armed groups like the communist insurgency and terrorist group and confirmed the continuing threats of violent extremism and terrorism in our midst.
“All communist rebels have wreaked havoc on the Filipinos especially scores have been murdered in bombings, assassinations, kidnapping, including attempts and executions,” he said.
Violent extremism, he said, is a diverse phenomenon and it is neither new nor exclusive to any region, nationality, or system of beliefs, that even up to now there is no clear definition of violent extremism.
He said the US and Australia have offered their definition on “violent extremism as a belief or action of the people to encourage, condone, justify or support the commission of a violent act to achieve political, ideological, religious and economic goals.”
He told the barangay captains that “all terrorists are extremists, but not all extremists are terrorists” citing lessons learned over the recent Marawi City siege.
He presented the photos through his slide presentation of the Maute brothers who invaded Marawi City last May 23, 2017 describing the brood as belonging to a rich family.
“No one ever thought that the brood are terrorists because they are rich and some of their family members have studied abroad,” he said.
To the surprise of the crowd, Macario’s revelation said they were able to retrieve passports of the Maute brothers which traced to an address that was from Tanza, Cavite.
The passport sported a different name as a religious leader of the Muslim faith-based group and a “balik-Islam” (converted to Islam) and was one among those killed in the skirmish between the enemies of the state and the government troops.
He also cautioned the barangay leaders on the indoctrination and teachings in schools as prone sites for teach-ins by the extremist groups and even in places of worship.
“Radicalization also happens in our public schools and state universities,” he confirmed as he urged barangay captains to also monitor what is being talked around in their respective communities by going around, familiarizing with community members, and knowing their constituents’ activities.
He encouraged barangay leaders to always be vigilant as even the ISIS and radicals made use of the social media by recruiting netizens to join their cause by offering huge money and the promise of good life.
He said the collateral damage wrought by the terrorist-extremist group in Marawi City, which include loss of lives from the soldiers, civilians, and the enemies of the state; damage to properties; residential areas and businesses; displacement of residents and the effects of evacuees in the relocation sites; and the P70 billion initially earmarked by the government in the reconstruction and rehabilitation in the war-torn Lanao del Sur Islamic capital city.
“The P70 billion would have been channeled for development projects in other areas, but this fund was allocated instead for Marawi and up to now the people there are still in the evacuation centers,” he said.
He attributed the factors that led to the Marawi City siege due to weak or failure of local governance especially in the barangays.
He pointed out the lessons learned from the Marawi City clash citing from three groups of barangay captains during their probe—the first group of village chiefs who did not know what was happening in their areas of jurisdiction.
For the second group, these barangay captains who knew all along of what was happening, but they simply ignored the incidents because these did not concern them at all as they were preoccupied with getting on with their private business interests.
On the other hand, the third group refers to those who supported and even joined the cause of the Maute terrorist group because they were politically affiliated.
“We should serve our barangays above political interests,” he urged, citing the need to deliver right public service to constituents and practice good governance.
He underscored the eight elements of good governance such as the rule of law; transparency; responsiveness; consensus-oriented; equity and inclusiveness; effectiveness and efficiency; accountability and participation.
He said the fight to violent extremism is through the rule of law and accountability that are interrelated to each other and any missing element could weaken good governance.
He propounded that the ways to avert extremism is through community involvement; collaboration between civilian populace and the police, military, and security forces; security awareness of the community and good governance.
