Thursday, November 29, 2012

Gov. Daza: NDF statement not true


TACLOBAN CITY – The statement issued by the National Democratic Front (NDF) against them was a result of his position being the Regional Peace and Order Council(RPOC) chairman and his effort to the peace and order activities that they are doing for Samar Island.
On November 26, 2012 the NDF through its spokesperson Fr. Santiago Salas issued a statement at their website branding the Dazas like the Ampatuans in Maguindanao.
“The continuing human rights violations under the military’s Oplan Bayanihan and the Dazas’ capacity for political violence have combined to create a climate of impunity in Northern Samar,” Fr. Salas said in his statement.
But this statement of Fr Salas, according to the Gov.Daza, was a misstatement and is incorrect.
“We are doing good in the peace and order activities in Samar Island like the constructions of roads that interconnect towns and barangays, reason why I become an easy target for them”  Daza said.
“But my job is to do what is best for my constituents and also for the region,” Daza added, stressing that he will continue to support all development activities for the region.
In the statement also of Salas, it states that the Dazas comprise another political dynasty who like the Ampatuans are suspected of massive corruption but enjoy the patronage of the national government and are cozy with the military and using the so-called “force multipliers” such as the Barangay Peacekeeping Action Teams (BPATs) meant for “counterinsurgency” as their own private army.
The BPAT project is an initiative of the PNP Director for Police Community Relations (DPCR) as a strategy to involve the community in the fight against criminalities at the barangay level.
BPATs are trained for unarmed patrolling, self-defense, traffic management, disaster relief and rescue operations which they can use in conducting their role as “force multipliers”.
In the recent RPOC  meeting held in the city of Tacloban presided by Gov.Daza, samar area coordinator for the Pamana Project of the Office of the Presidential Adviser for Peace Process Imelda Bonifacio lauded the governor of Northern Samar for  his support to BPATs in his province.
OPPAP as part of their Pamana Project implementation had urged local government units to support the establishment of BPATs in their area especially in those places where law enforcer’s number is not equated to the number of population.
Each BPAT team is headed by a police officer who will act as their immediate supervisor.
Moreover, in this statement released by the NDF that tag the Dazas as “enemy of the people” the Armed Forces of the Philippines stationed in Eastern Visayas had promised protect the governor if they will ask for security arrangement with them.
Colonel Roberto Capulong, chief operations officer of the 8th Infantry Division based in Catbalogan City, said that the rebel group issued hate statement against the governor due to his support to infrastructure projects in the island of Samar that are instrumental for development and are considered to be pro-poor project where the beneficiaries are mostly from the rural areas. 

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