Over a hundred police officers and force multipliers in Cebu City and DILG Cebu City and regional personnel join the indignation rally to denounce all forms of violence, terrorism, and atrocities on December 26, 2019. | Photo courtesy of DILG-7
CEBU CITY, Philippines — There’s no place for terrorism in Cebu City.
This was the statement of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) following the indignation rally they conducted at the Fuente Osmeña Circle on Thursday, December 26, 2019, timed with the 51st founding anniversary of the Communist Party of the Philippines.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Clark Arriola, information officer of the CCPO, said the rally is a nationwide protest of the Philippine National Police (PNP) against violence, terrorism, and all forms of atrocities.
“If violence and terrorism continue in a place, this can impede development. I used to be assigned in Mindanao and a simple road cannot be finished because some of the rebel, terrorists, and others would try to extort money (from) the local executives,” he said.
Aside from the police, the local government units, and private sectors joined the rally, which Arriola said symbolizes how it takes a community effort to keep insurgency and terrorism at bay. At least 200 individuals joined the rally.
He said Cebu City is lucky because it is the center of the Central Visayas region and most government services are accessible to the people. This makes the residents invulnerable to attempts of indoctrination.
The challenge in Cebu City is the attempts of insurgent groups to indoctrinate students, he said.
Arriola said the PNP is working with the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to help prevent this indoctrination and counter them with developmental initiatives.
In a statement, the Department of Interior and Local Government in Central Visayas (DILG-7) said the activity was part of Duterte administration’s effort to end the decades-old insurgency problem in the country by 2020 and attain sustainable peace and development, especially in the countryside.
“The DILG encouraged other members of the society, including the private sector and members of the community, to support peace and development building initiatives of the government,” said the statement.
It added: “The government cannot end the communist insurgency problem alone without the active participation of its partners from the different sectors.”
According to PNP records, communist rebels are present in at least 782 barangays across the country. /elb