Dangerous roads and exploratory peace zones

HAPPY WEEKEND
Gina Dizon

Halsema Highway still stands as one of the most dangerous roads despite the billions of pesos already poured for its rehabilitation.

The recent concreting of the road by former president Gloria Arroyo’s SONA 2009 project has made at least 85% smooth roads all the way from the 151 kilometer stretch from Baguio to Bontoc.

Yet, the face-lifting of the road still has its jitters with stranded trips along the way on the onslaught of typhoons. A year ago, a 100 meter cut along the Gonogon- Bontoc road has barred off the way stranding vehicles for weeks with passengers having to walk half kilometer rice paddies , trudge across a bridge and trek up to the other end of the road to a waiting vehicle.

This very recent times, kilometer 19 along Atok Trail was a site of passengers having to get down the bus and walk some kilometers to meet another bus on the other side of the road. The recent typhoons resulted to one of the Lizardo Trans buses fallen down the road.

Yet despite the billions of money poured in this 151 kilometer road, the right technical engineering still has to make the road keep still and make vehicles move smoothly in times of typhoons.

Should that technical fitting solution come along, that would be news. As it stands in the present, there is nothing new to talk about in this beleaguered Halsema Highway. Landslides, accidents, stranded vehicles are already much abused news report heard almost every other year while widening, concreting and shotcreting goes year in and year out. Enough reasons for the road to be called as one of the most dangerous roads in the world in international travel notes.

And for those who want adventure or to take a regular a trip that is almost forgotten of why it is even called one of the world’s most dangerous highways, travel along Halsema Highway.
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The scheduled peace zone consultation did not proceed as planned in Aguid, Sagada last Sept. 29 due to landslides which cut off sections along the Paracelis- Natonin road and other roads to Bontoc and Sagada, from other towns of the province. It would be unfair to proceed and not let affected delegates join the scheduled provincial consultation supposedly to be held at one of the exciting places where both armed elements of the New Peoples’ Army and military forces trudge a common footpath towards adjacent Abra.

Aguid is supposed to be the location of the next peace zone consultation conducted by the provincial government of Mountain Province led by Gov. Leonard Mayaen. Said consultation was postponed indefinitely.

Aguid overlooks Sisipitan mountains adjacent Abra province. Sisipitan sounds familiar earlier times when the NPAs and the military had their encounter in this mossy forest. Like cats and dogs, these two armed forces would claw at each other’s bodies, hearts and minds fighting for what they believe in calling for people-based justice and welfare.

In the very exercise however of these ideologies, the very people whom they wish to dedicate their ideologies fall victims to their very operations. The people have to flee in times of bloody physical encounters when both armed group’s chance on the other.

In Fidelisan of northern Sagada, villagers forwarded a resolution in February 2008 letting concerned persons know that they don’t want NPAs or government military soldiers stopping by their homes. They called on 5th ID commanding General Rommel Gomez for the immediate pull out of the military.

Again in 2010, people of northern Sagada forwarded a resolution calling for the demilitarization of the northern barangays of Fidelisan, Pide, Aguid, Bangaan, and Madongo.

Making Sagada a peace zone dates back in the dark days of the latter years of 1980s. The people of Sagada cannot forget October 28, 1988 when drunk soldiers of the 50th IB shot four year old Hardy Bagni Jr and 17 year old Kenneth Bayang at the town’ s Poblacion area.

Following this bloody incident, a letter on November 8, 1988 from the people of Sagada led by the people’s town officials, church authorities, and town’s folks was sent to both the AFP and the NPA calling for immediate ceasefire and demilitarization meaning, pull out of all armed groups to include no operations, patrols, harassments, meetings, and carrying of firearms inside the territory of Sagada.

Barely three days after the letter was sent to the AFP and NPA, 12 year old Ben Tumapang Jr was shot on November 11, 1988, the bullet not established where it came from whether from a machine gun of a government soldier or an NPA when both armed groups had a clash near Bomabanga Central School in the town’s central area.

A resolution from the people was further forwarded in February 10, 1989 calling for Sagada to be a designated area for peaceful negotiations and venue for safe conduct for all wounded and medical treatment. Sagada as a peace zone was eventually recognized in 1993 by Senate in a resolution forwarded by Senator Rodolfo Biazon which identified Sagada as a special development area along with six other SDAs in the country, and each area allotted a P5 million development fund. Did Sagada as a peace zone work out?

The ‘90s proved to be peaceful for the town folks of Sagada with no untoward military-NPA encounters. The latter years of 2000 however came off bloody scary.

In 2006, the town saw operations of the armed groups when NPAs ambushed military soldiers along Pegew junction in the road boundary of Sagada and Bontoc scaring people nearby off their farms. Military encampments were noted in Lamag, Qurino; Dandanac in Tamboan, Besao; and Mt Labayan and Mt Datacan north of Sagada. This led the MP-based Peace Ecumenical Council to call for the immediate demilitarization of Bontoc, Sagada, and Besao; and the implementation of the Comprehensive Agreement for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law in 2006.

The people of Bontoc also echoed the same sentiment following the death of seven soldiers in Mainit in 2010 in an ambush staged by the NPA. The people want demilitarization of Mountain Province and the province be declared a peace zone in furtherance of an earlier petition in 2003 calling for the pull-out of both NPA and government military elements in Mountain Province.

With the events that transpired, comes now the conduct of peace zone consultations led by the provincial government with the blessings of the provincial peace and order council.

The recent consultation in Bontoc noted majority of 84 barangay officials wanted a peace zone. Similarly in Sabangan, majority of 84 persons who attended wanted a peace zone. And so with barangay officials of Bauko, Besao, Sagada, Tadian, Barlig, Bontoc, Natonin, Paracelis, Sabangan and Sadanga in two separate consultations overwhelmingly favoring peace zone.

Interestingly though, a strong 232 persons do not like a peace zone following a community consultation in Sadanga on September 7. (This column would like to correct an earlier news report by this writer which stated that 232 persons were undecided in Sadanga, data taken from the summary of votes from provincial office files. The correct data is that 232 favored a No vote following minutes of the Sadanga peace zone consultation, data also taken from provincial office files. This comes as a correction)

With these trends, seemingly, Mountain Province is headed to be a peace zone. Except for Sadanga, so it seems, where people have rejected declaration of Mt Province as a peace zone, apparently due to some 300 CAFGU persons receiving their P2,700 monthly allowance among other reasons.

As how it is directly and physically perceived, the very presence of the military attracts the NPAs and vice versa. The formula is simple based on those who favor a peace zone: get the military and the NPAs and other armed groups out of Mountain Province. At first base, physical fighting gets off the territory. And the rest of what will be will follow.

While that is that case, NPAs as an armed force exist to fight basic problems of society as how they see it- “imperialism and bureaucrat capitalism”- which fuel injustice and poverty. The military meantime do their duty and fight insurgency as what they are called to do. Meantime, the status quo remains with the stench of corruption and cudgels of poverty.

With physical peace realized and people feel peaceful and free working in the fields, what is beyond the declaration of Mountain Province as a peace zone? What is behind MP still one of the country’s poorest 20 provinces? What is beyond MP as a peace zone where corruption is still felt from implementation of infrastructure projects and lenient government policies fueling non- performing personnel?

It would be good to go beyond and take note what is behind a peace zone and institute reforms there from.