Alabel Mayor Vic Paul M. Salarda (middle) received a “Gawad Parangal Award” from the NTF-ELCAC during its 5th founding anniversary celebration at Camp General Emilio Aguinaldo in Quezon City. Salarda was joined by TESDA-12 Regional Director Rafael Y. Abrogar II (far right), who also received the same award for his consistent dedication as Poverty Reduction, Livelihood, and Employment Cluster (PRLEC) lead and Technical Working Group head for the RTF-ELCAC 12. Also in the photo is former TESDA Secretary Isidro Lapeña, who was also the former NTF-ELCAC’s Cabinet Officer for Regional Development and Security (CORDS) for Soccsksargen. (Photo courtesy of Alabel Information Office)
ALABEL, Sarangani (PIA) — The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) awarded the local government of Alabel with the highest recognition for continuously promoting “long-lasting peace, unity, and sustainable development” in its former conflict-affected barangays.
Special Assistant to the President Secretary Antonio Lagdameo handed over two “Gawad Parangal” awards to Mayor Vic Paul M. Salarda for himself and for his municipality during the recent NTF-ELCAC’s 5th founding anniversary at the Camp General Emilio Aguinaldo in Quezon City.
The municipal government of Alabel and its local chief executive Salarda, along with RTF-ELCAC Technical Working Group head and Poverty Reduction, Livelihood, and Employment Cluster (PRLEC) lead, TESDA 12 Regional Director Rafael Abrogar, were the only ones from the Soccsksargen region that were conferred with the NTF-ELCAC Gawad Parangal award.
Dedicating the awards to his constituents, Salarda said that he was “thankful to the NTF-ELCAC for recognizing their efforts to keep and sustain the peace in Alabel” by institutionalizing relevant programs that have lasting impact on his constituents, which have become the town’s best practices for ELCAC since its implementation in 2018.
“The local government of Alabel has initiated several programs in line with achieving the goals of ELCAC,” he said, highlighting three notable programs that caught the attention of the NTF-ELCAC.
Alabel’s “Serbisyong SMILE sa Barangay (SSB)” program is one of the best practices of the municipality, which has won the local government and Mayor Vic Paul Salarda the Gawad Parangal Award from the NTF-ELCAC. Through the Serbisyong Smile program, government services, whether local or national, have been brought closer and more accessible to the people in the barangays, addressing their various needs, from medical, dental, and eye care to farm inputs, livestock, haircuts, and road safety, among other information about various government programs that they need, especially in the hard-to-reach ELCAC priority barangays of the municipality. (Photo courtesy of Alabel Information Office)
According to him, the local government’s “Serbisyong SMILE sa Barangay (SSB),” a community outreach initiative that brings essential government services to local communities, has “brought so many smiles” to the people, especially in the far-flung areas, which were also considered ELCAC priority barangays.
The program, he said, is being conducted regularly in the municipality, providing the people in the 13 barangays with various government services like medical, dental, and eye checkups; circumcision; haircuts; mass weddings; birth registration; and agricultural and veterinary services, among others.
Salarda also noted that the “Alabel Food Hub,” established with the backing of NTF-ELCAC, provides local and Indigenous Peoples’ farmers alike with a platform to market their fresh harvests.
“The municipal government continues to support our farmers, so we have established a marketplace for them to easily sell their farm produce while at the same time providing the residents with access to these organic, nutritious, and healthy foods,” he said.
The members of BAGANI (Kamleng Banwe) of the town of Alabel were former rebels that the local government organized so they could become active partners in development as members of the barangay peacekeeping action team, designated as either forest guards or force multipliers for peace in their respective barangays. (Photo courtesy of Alabel Information Office)
Taking pride in another innovative practice of his municipality called “BAGANI (Kamleng Banwe),” a Blaan term that means “advocates for peace and order,” the mayor described the program as vital to equip former rebels with necessary skills training.
Alabel Information Office head Christian Jay Laya explained the former rebels were made into Bagani after equipping them with the skills they need and ensuring they are now ready to go back to mainstream society.
“As a result, they have now become partners of the local government in guarding the environment as forest guards and force multipliers in their respective barangays as members of the barangay peacekeeping action team,” he said.
According to him, the Baganis also receive honoraria from the municipal government and are registered so that they can avail themselves of free hospitalization and accident insurance in case of emergencies.
Meanwhile, the municipality of Alabel has also denounced the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) in a rally held on Wednesday, December 26, at the town’s public market.
The municipal event was part of a larger national movement aimed at denouncing the CPP-NPA-NDF for their continued fraudulent activities, harassment, and threats to local communities while also ensuring the full cooperation of the town’s constituents and sustaining their support for its “insurgency-cleared” status since 2019. (HJPF/CTA – PIA SarGen)
