P41 billion to peace programs—OPAPP

MANILA, Philippines—The present administration is intending to pour an estimated P41 billion worth of inter-agency programs to conflict-zones throughout the country in its effort to increase socio-economic development and eventually eliminate the roots of conflict.

“True peace must be won, not only on the negotiating tables, but also just as vigorously on the ground” Secretary Teresita Quintos-Deles of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) said in a media forum about the peace process Wednesday.

Chapter nine of the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) said that the PAMANA (Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan or Peaceful and Resilient Communities) program “aims to: (a) reduce poverty and vulnerability in conflict-affected areas; (b) improve governance; and (c) empower communities and strengthen their capacity to address issues of conflict and peace through activities that promote social cohesion.”

“To provide hope and build trust and confidence in the peace process, the government must deliver basic services, as soon as possible, in areas that in the past were inaccessible due to intermittent sparks of violence,” Deles said.

The conflict zones are the “(1) Cordillera Administrative Region; (2) Negros Panay, Region VI, VII; (3) Bicol, Quezon, Mindoro; (4) Samar; (5) ComVal-Caraga Corridor; (6) ZamBaSulTa (Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi) ; and (7) Central Mindanao, centered on mainland ARMM and contiguous provinces in Region X and XII,” Deles said.

PAMANA is currently implemented in 516 barangays in 80 municipalities and will be raised to 1,921 barangays in 35 provinces in 2012, Deles said.

The program stands on three “pillars”, (1) address policy issues which create conditions of unpeace, (2) bring convergent and community-driven socio-economic services into identified barangays and (3) address regional development needs [by] connect[ing] these communities to larger economies and markets so that no community is left behind.

PAMANA will be implemented in collaboration with national government agencies, local government units and development partners.

“This will ensure that these communities feel the presence of government in their lives” according to the PDP.