Kris-Crossing Mindanao
Mirage
By Carlos Isagani T. Zarate
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:47:00 01/12/2009
Filed Under: Economy and Business and Finance, Regional authorities, Armed conflict
DESPITE the global economic meltdown, blame not the visitors coming to Davao City and its environs in Southern Mindanao if they get the impression that the region seems to be spared from the financial conflagration raging from the Americas to Zurich.
On the surface, such impressions apparently are not without basis. Take the case of Davao City. For years now, the city has positioned itself as a prime investment destination for the ICT/BPO (Information Communication Technology/Business Process Outsourcing) industry. Current ICT/BPO locators have cited the city’s relatively cheaper outsourcing cost and a ready—and steadily growing—reserve of competent human resources churned out yearly by the city’s almost four dozen colleges and universities. More buildings are currently under construction or under renovation to accommodate ICT/BPO locators. There is also the ongoing development of more malls by the Ayalas, Gokongweis and Sys. Local industrialists, like the Floirendos and the Bangayans, have also expanded their real estate development and tourism investments. Thus, if one is to judge from these indicators, there are no visible signs yet that Davao’s economy is slowing down or even heading for a bust.
But both local officials and business leaders agree that there will be deceleration of the region’s economy, too, in the coming months. While they are one in saying that the region’s economy will manage to survive better than the others, there is no mistaking that the financial crunch will affect the majority poor more. In fact, some see the ongoing hustle and bustle as a mere economic mirage. Before 2008 ended, there were already reports of workers’ retrenchment by several establishments. Next to layoffs, job contractualization is also becoming widespread, not only in the city’s service sector but even in the banana industry, source of the region’s top exports. This “mirage” will not be for long, and we can only brace for its real effects.
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Last Tuesday’s release from captivity of Army 1st Lt. Vicente Cammayo from the hands of the New People’s Army once more brought to fore the folly of some officials of looking at the twin rebellions waged by the Moro and communist rebels purely from a hawkish prism. Cammayo, commander of the army’s 11th Special Forces Company who was captured on Nov. 7, 2008 by the NPA following an encounter in Monkayo, Compostela Valley, was turned over by the NPA to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in a forested area in Loreto, Agusan del Sur.
The turnover was witnessed by several members of an interfaith humanitarian group and members of civil society organizations. The turn-over would have been trouble-free, despite being aborted previously because of the incessant military operations in the area. After the release, the ICRC, the interfaith group and the media then motored to Sto. Tomas, Davao del Norte, where Cammayo was to have been turned over to Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and his daughter, Vice Mayor Sara, who principally negotiated with the NPAs for the officer’s release. But when the groups reached the designated area, the place was already teeming with soldiers; this, according to Mayor Duterte, was contrary to what had been agreed on with the AFP leadership and the earlier commitment he and his daughter made to the NPAs. As a consequence, when the army commander attempted to shake the hand of Mayor Duterte, the latter, visibly irked, dismissed the officer by saying angrily: “I simply do not like your attitude … sa sunod hindi na ako magtulong sa inyo … kayo na lang!”
Last Dec. 24, another NPA captive, PO3 Eduardo Tumol, was also turned over to the ICRC in Davao Oriental, before he was later transferred to the custody of Mayor Duterte and Vice Mayor Sara. Mayor Duterte, known for giving full logistical support to the police and military, is also known for maintaining “open lines” with the leaders of the NPA and Moro rebel fronts in Mindanao, an act that some quarters, particularly in the military, may have resented.
These events, however, showed the important role played by local civilian officials under the Arroyo administration that is increasingly becoming more hawkish in its fixation to end by sheer military might the insurgency problem by 2010. While the hawks measure their “success” by the numbers of combatants killed or areas and arms supposedly recovered from the rebels, these local officials can facilitate moves to at least ease the hardships suffered by civilians affected and displaced by the government’s counter-insurgency operations. These officials, too, can also complement the calls made by peace advocates, religious and civil society groups for the resumption of stalled talks, not only with the MILF, but also with the National Democratic Front, if only to reduce, if not eliminate, the ill effects of the ongoing war that affects mostly hapless civilians.
However, the supposed attempts by some to merely reduce the armed confrontation but at the same time use other equally senseless methods are even more atrocious. For example, the army presently employs the so-called “resource control” in the hinterlands of Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur, limiting residents’ daily rice purchase to only three kilos, with the additional edict for store owners to keep a list of persons buying the rice and other household necessities. An army lieutenant boasted on TV that the restriction is one way of forcing the rebels to surrender “without firing our guns.” A clear delusion, I may say, as the immoral, even illegal restrictions are undoubtedly hurting civilians more than the highly mobile rebels who can probably source their supplies elsewhere.
Humanizing the war, as UCCP Bishop Constante Claro says, is as crucial at this stage as finding the solutions to the root causes of the rebellions.
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