Progress comes to Tawi-Tawi

Title

Identifier

Letter from a region

Language

English

Source

The Republic Volume I (No. 2) 1-15 October 1975

Year

1975

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

16 1-15 October. 1975 The Nati THE REPUBLIC Letter From A Region □ Bongao, Tawi-Tawi (PNA) - He is a full-fledged colonel and once slept in the quarters of a rebel leader. It was a risky thing to do, considering the bitterness and hostility that hung heavy in the air at that time in Tawi-Tawi. Nonetheless, Col. Teofisto L. Gaurano, deputy com mander of the Sulu Sea Frontier Com mand (SUSEFCOM), went through with it,' if only to demonstrate that the gov ernment is sincere in accepting the re turn of insurgents to the fold of the law. Nothing happened that night. But something did happen afterwards. Gerry Matba, alias Commander Gercy of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), surrendered shortly after the “sleep in” of Gaurano, along with his 250 fullyarmed followers. With Matba command ing the biggest following in TawiProgress comes to Tawi-Tawi Tawi, his surrender was followed suit by almost 1,500 rebels. The surrender of Matba, a former school teacher who joined the MNLF to dramatize the clamor for reforms and more government attention to the less developed Muslim areas, created a chain of positive reactions. Paramount of these was the clearing away of the doubts among Muslims over the sincerity of the government. “We came here not to add fire to the root causes of insurgency, but to build a viable and strong develop ment foundation," said Gaurano. Restoring peace and order, he ad ded, was principally a goal of “peace negotiation tactical operation." In addition to Matba, other prom inent rebel commanders who had sur rendered were Roxas Sali and Muham mad Sali Bahauddin. No less than Pres ident Marcos commissioned them recent ly as second lieutenants in the Philip pine Army. Some 15 other rebel leaders are currently undergoing military train ing in Manila. While SUSEFCOM placed priority on its pacification offensive it was not however remiss in its other mission. To date, at least 64 development projects, most of them completed, are gradually changing the outlook of some 200,000 residents in the island who had rarely experienced government response to their problems before. A total of 2.7 million have been poured into a wide ar ray of investments ranging from the construction of prefab school buildings to the cultivation of agar-agar. One such project is the opening of a 10-kilometer road starting from the poblacion of Bongao going up to Bahut where a bridge is undergoing construction. Designed as farm-to-market road, it was finished with only picks and shovels. The newly-created province of TawiTawi has shown a tremendous capacity to surge toward the goal of social and economic development launched by SU SEFCOM. Tawi-Tawi used to be a part of the Sulu Province. By virtue of Pres idential Decree No. 302 issued on Sep tember 1 1 this year, it became a province. Among the reasons behind the pro mulgation of the decree was that the cluster of islands comprising the TawiTawi group are distant from the seat of the provincial government of Sulu, and communications were so difficult. (Cont’d. from page 1) The second batch included one each from the Immigration Commis sion, Special Security Commission, Of fice of the President, National Economic and Development Authority, Citizens Legal Assistance Office, Department of Natural Resources, Bureau of Public Works, Bureau of Telecommunications, Department of Health, Department of Trade,Department of Local Government and Community Development, Home Financing Commission, State University; 14 from the Department of Justice; 18, Land Registration Commission; 5, Department of Agriculture; 3, Bureau of Fisheries; 6, Bureau of Forest Devel opment; 5, Bureau of Posts; 31, Land Transportation Commission; 85, Depart ment of Public Highways; and 81, Com mission on Audit. The resigned officials also included 12 judges of the Court of First Instance; three from the city fiscal’s office, three assistant city fiscals, six provincial fis cals; five municipal judges and 17 regis trars of deeds. The President also announced the retirement of Education and Culture Secretary Juan Manuel, Health Secre tary Clemente Gatmaitan and Budget Commissioner Faustino Sy-Changco, and at the same time praised them for their “unblemished and dedicated services to the Republic long after they had reached the retirement age of 65 and had served with distinction the goals of re form and change of our New Society.” In a similar move, the President elevated to cabinet status Solicitor Gen eral Estelito Mendoza “in view of his exemplary service to the Philippine Re public not only in the conduct of legal defense of the Republic in our courts but also in legal conferences and forums outside the Philippines,” However, those who have gotten the presidential ax comprise only a part of a massive overhaul in the government which will eventually see a total change in public service. The lower ranks of the civil service will not be spared ; replace ments for the corrupt and backsliders will be announced in due time. In justifying his course of action, the President said:' “I have warned, scolded, cajoled, reprimanded. “Now it is time to cut off the in fected parts of the society from active public life before they endanger the en tire body politic. “This has been my painful duty as the head of the government and of the state. For the last three years, I have been watching the conduct of officers and employees in the national as well as the local governments. It is my duty as President of the Republic of the Philip pines to reward what is proper, dedica ted, devoted service by our public ser vants, and by the sarpe token, to punish any violation of the sacred trust by a public official.” To those who have been found to have committed inequities or corruption in public office, the President said that not only were all their resignations approved but they would also face charges before the military court and would therefore be subsequently arrested and detained. Already, he has directed Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile to probe the Office of the Undersec retary of Munitions which allegedly has misused the procurement of government materials. As the big purge continues, other government departments, bureaus, agen cies and offices would be affected, in cluding the military organization. What has been started during the Rizal Park rite is only the beginning. —JUANITA G. TRINIDAD

pages

16

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