Barangay-based information hub

I had been a resident of Cebu City since I stepped into the portals of the University of the Visayas as a third year high school student in 1965. Although being born in Candijay, I am a Boholano, and some of my friends trace my father’s home in Southern Leyte, as mine too. In terms of number, I have, thus, chosen to live in this city for the last 52 years already.

Without any fear of contradiction, I can say that I was correct in my decision to reside here. This city has been good to me. Its environment augurs well to productivity, and Cebuanos are known for their -- let me change that to -- our religiosity. We are a peaceful community, and so it is not wrong to brag that there is no safer place to stay in the Philippines, than here, no matter how President Rodrigo Roa Duterte proclaims his home city of Davao to be peaceful and safe.

When news first broke out that a group ofAbu Sayyaf personnel landed in Bohol, I also felt threatened. It was as if the ASG breached my own personal safety. I felt that anytime, physical harm was coming my way considering that from their gruesome reputation as kidnappers for ransom, the perceived intention of those malefactors was nothing friendly in nature.

It was therefore to my understandable relief that the last element of the ASG was reportedly neutralized, to use the operational language of the military, just few weeks after their reported arrival. All of the intruders to Bohol were accounted for dead. The military claimed that their success in slaying allAbus was attributable to the genuine feeling of good neighborliness and selfless cooperation among Boholanos who gave all-out support to the police forces.

There is a newly reported threat on the Maute group expanding their terror to the Visayas. While the military and police forces claim, rather quickly, that this is still raw intelligence subject to validation, the reported arrest of the kin of the Maute leaders in Iloilo port has added a new dimension of restiveness to the people of Panay Island. To them, such arrests were hard and ominous signs.

We, in Cebu, are also stirred up. We feel a sense of urgency to secure our province. Our shores are not inaccessible to the lawless elements from the hotbed of the Mautes. If the ASG landed in Bohol, we are similarly within reach of the ISIS-affiliated Mautes.

Terror being sown in our midst is unacceptable. But it might be more real than imaginary. In the midst of this security concern, the first important step might be to emulate what the Boholanos did during their own crisis. In Bohol, everyone, down to the barangay level, relayed to police authorities information on whatever movements the ASG noticeably made.

Similarly, our sense of cooperation with the police and military, the critical way the Boholanos displayed, is the key towards any successful degree fighting this criminal horde. The intelligence section of our police should set up a system of information relay. Perhaps, the barangay leaders form the core of this information hub. Is it not that barangay folks know almost everybody in their neighborhood? If we are aware of the existence of such a system, it is easy to spot a stranger in our community and upon noticing a new and unfamiliar face, it will be our duty to bring to the attention of authorities such suspicious presence. That was how the Boholanos helped in licking the ASG. We can do the same here in our province.

‘Is it not that barangay folks know almost everybody in their neighborhood? If we are aware of the existence of such a system, it is easy to spot a stranger in our

community.’