DavNor to be declared peaceful, dev’t ready on June 19

DAVAO DEL NORTE, April 29 (PIA) - - Top official of the 1003rd Infantry Brigade (IB) of the Philippine Army revealed on Tuesday (April 27) at Matinao Resort, New Corella that the whole province of Davao del Norte will be declared peaceful and development ready by June 19, 2015.

1003rd IB Commanding Officer Col. Harold Cabreros said in an interview that they are on track with their schedule on the declaration of the whole province as peaceful and development ready by June 19.

As of Tuesday, three local government units were already cleared and declared normalize. These were Panabo City, Dujali and New Corella.

He said that the other eight local government units in the province will be declared peaceful and development ready before June 19.

“For now, we have evaluated all the towns except for Talaingod, which we are still conducting Peace and Development Outreach Program (PDOP),” Cabreros said.

He explained that the process for the declaration includes evaluation from the brigade then validation from the 10th Infantry Division.

Cabreros said that the declaration also signifies the culmination of the army led PDOP activities in the province.

“The culmination will indicate the transfer of the lead agency role for PDOP from the Philippine Army to the local Peace and Order Council,” he said.

He emphasized that even if there will be a transfer of responsibility for the sustainability of the PDOP, the army will still remain to be on guard and ready to thwart rebels if there will be resurgence after the declaration. (PIA11, Michael Uy)