Gen. Tabaquero denies accusation of National Deamocratic Front
TACLOBAN CITY- Major General Arthur Tabaquero, commanding general of the Army’s 8th Infantry Division, denies the claim of the communist rebels in the region that the military leadership is only pretending to fulfill government projects but in reality using those for war purposes and in electioneering in behalf of the present administration.
Tabaquero said the recent press statement of the National Democratic Front in the region through its spokesperson Santiago Salas is not new to the public but a desperate statement as the government continue to implement projects of Samar Peace and Development programs, which has been the dream of the people of Samar.
Fr. Salas scoffed at the 8th Infantry Division for pretending to fulfill government projects but in reality using these for war purposes and in electioneering in behalf of the Arroyo administration.
“The 8th ID and other Arroyo government officials shamelessly promoted former Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro at the inauguration of the Lapinig-Jipapad road connecting Northern and Eastern Samar last Nov. 14,” said Salas,
“The road, a mere five kilometers funded by Malacañang but suspiciously took the 53rd Engineering Brigade four years to complete, fittingly resembles Teodoro: insignificant, too late, and with a whiff of corruption to boot. Despite the lip service that the road will help the people, 8th ID chief Maj. Gen. Arthur Tabaquero stated blatantly that the road will be used to facilitate military operations.”
The NDF also accused Gen. Tabaquero and other civilian and military officials of another high profile media event in the conclusion of construction projects by the Philippine Army’s Kalayaan sa Barangay Program in Paranas, Western Samar.
“Projects as simple as school buildings and street lights should be basic government services. For the military to claim these as “accomplishments” shows they have a hidden agenda. The military’s Kalayaan sa Barangay Program strives to cosmeticize the government’s otherwise ruinous Oplan Bantay Laya campaign for peace and deveopment. Such is small consolation to the people who today suffer under the government’s brutal war and the economic crisis. The people is not easily fooled especially when there is nothing in the pot and there are soldiers in the fields making farming impossible,” the press statement said.
Earlier, top military officials in the region believed that unless development program will be properly implemented in the remote villages in Samar insurgency problem will go on. This is the view of the military leadership focusing on the continued implementation of infrastructure projects that will uplift the economic situation of the people.
It may be observed that another infrastructure project in Northern Samar officially opened.
The P20 million road connecting the provinces of Northern and Eastern Samar inaugurated last week by top local officials in the region was another instrument in fighting insurgency problem in Samar.
This road was constructed by the 53rd Engineering Brigade where it was started way back in 2005. (MIRIAM GARCIA DESACADA)
Read More on Leyte Samar Daily Express
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Las Navas Northern Samar will have a community Based Ecotourism Seminar on December 2-4, 2009 at the LGU Multipurpose bldg. The seminar is sponsored by SINP-DENR. The team is headed Mr. Angelito Villanueva, Chief Ecotourism, SINP. This a continuing activity after the launching of Pinipisakan Falls as a tourist destination last August 18, 2009. Its LGU counterpart, Engr. Romualdo D. Saises, Municipal Engineer,stress that one of its agenda is the organization of the community in relation to its tourism activity for Pinipisakan. Jipapad, a neighbor of Las Navas, has also a potential for tourism development which is very near to Barangay San Miguel, the Sanise Falls at Barangay Cagmanaba, Jipapad. The place will be put on the map when the SINP Team shall validate the place.Another to be reckoned is the last stand of Col. Enrique V. Daguhob in Barangay San Francisco, Las Navas. Engr. Saises is making a research how the place be recognized by the National Historical Institue for the placement of the Historical Marker.