Residents of the first district of Camarines Sur comprising the municipalities of Cabusao, Del Gallego, Libmanan, Lupi, Minalabac, Pamplona, Pasacao, Ragay, San Fernando, and Sipocot are being forced to attend seminars conducted by the 42nd Infantry Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel Dece M. Yabo of the 9th Infantry Division.
BY ARTEMIO F. CUSI III
Contributed to Bulatlat
ELECTIONWATCH
Vol. VII, No. 14 May 13-19, 2007
Residents of the first district of Camarines Sur comprising the municipalities of Cabusao, Del Gallego, Libmanan, Lupi, Minalabac, Pamplona, Pasacao, Ragay, San Fernando, and Sipocot are being forced to attend seminars conducted by the 42nd Infantry Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel Dece M. Yabo of the 9th Infantry Division. These seminars, called by the military as “Information Caravan and Integrated Defense System (ITDS) Orientation Live-In Seminar,” follow a strict schedule from 2 p.m. in the first day to 11 a.m. the next day. In another certificate shown by a former participant, the words “and Alsa Masa” came after “(ITDS)”.
“Hindi ka mahihirapan kumuha ng magkatugmang detalye kahit sino pa ang makausap mo sa distrito, dahil marami ang iniimbitahan at pareho-pareho ang naranasan sa seminar,” (You will not have a hard time getting similar details if you talk to anybody in the district, because many were invited and experienced the same things during the seminar) said Roy Calfoforo of the the Philippine Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural Areas (PHILDHRRA), which has been implementing projects in the area.
“Syempre, walang gustong magpabanggit ng pangalan pag kinakausap ang media dahil takot, pero kalat na kalat yung nangyayari. Nakikita sila ng publiko pag nagmamartsa (Obviously, nobody would want to identify themselves when talking to media because they are afraid, but that is public knowledge. They are seen by the public when they are marching),” he added.
“If you are absent in that seminar, which is usually held at the municipal gym, then you are presumed to be an NPA (New People’s Army) sympathizer by the military,” said the councilor, who requested not to be named. Those who were not able to attend had been told to make up for their absences by participating in the next scheduled activity to be held in another town.
Hilarious and inane
More than 400 officials from 24 barangays (villages) were called to join the orientation held last February 16-17, 2007. The people who attended the orientation said the seminar started during the period of the day when participants were most tired and would prefer to idly spend time dozing in the early afternoon.
Since no food was provided by organizers of the activity, the people were told to bring their own. Some municipal officials contributed vegetables and a few sacks of rice for the barangay leaders attending the seminar.
A councilor from another barangay in San Fernando, Camarines Sur said the seminar began with a talk by a representative of the Department of Interior and Local Governments (DILG) on the merits of the programs carried out by the government.
Another module consisted of a lecture by a Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) employee, who lavishly praised the government for its “accomplishments” in land redistribution to the poor farmers. Probably an indication that the topics failed to elicit his interest, the councilor said he could not recall the names of the speakers.
Perceived by the participants as hilarious and inane, the counter-insurgency campaign served as the last topic of the seminar. “A guy who sounded like a military chaplain bantered fanatically against the evils of communism while quoting the bible,” the same councilor said, “A military officer also warned about the continuing American imperialism and the desire of China to gradually conquer the Philippines.”
The lecturers also directed the barangay officials to sing Filipino religious songs such as Lupa (Land) and Hiram sa Diyos (Borrowed from God).
Those caught snoozing during the lectures were admonished and told that their actuations would not be tolerated because these reflect a non-supportive attitude toward government policies. “The soldiers would use charcoals to smear the faces of those who could not prevent their eyelids from drooping,” the councilor said. The responsibility to wake up a seatmate also fell on all the participants.
