Jolo, Sulu – There are two battlefields in Sulu.
One is in the mountains and jungles of the islands where soldiers are fighting the Abu Sayyaf and are apparently winning but precious lives are sacrificed.
The other is in the hearts and minds of local people and this is where we in government are faring dismally and could even be losing the fight.
The tragedy of this all is that if government fails to win the hearts and minds of people, our soldiers’ sacrifices, supreme to some, would be in vain.
Lest I am misunderstood again, let me clearly state that I am not criticising the very government that I am part of.
Mine is just an honest assessment of a situation and I am not pointing a blaming finger at anybody.
The story state of Sulu with a poverty incidence of over 70% and the mess that is Jolo are results of years of misguided approaches in dealing with the problems of the island.
Arriving in Jolo yesterday on orders of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte to check on the situation of the victims of the recent fire which gutted almost 2,000 houses on stilts in the coast fronting the city, I immediately sensed the air of discontent and despair.
The city suffers from chronic brownouts with power interruption occurring as many as 30 times a day, water hoses (not pipes) from the local water district are strewn by the side of the roads and there are as many as 6,000 houses on stilts right in the coastal frontage of the city.
Almost all of these houses do not have a sewage system and all wastes and garbage are just thrown into the water below the houses.
These areas are ideal breeding nests for extremists who find strength on the discontent of people.
The island does not produce enough food for its people and people depend on imported rice spirited in through Sandakan or Labuan in Sabah.
Chicken, eggs, fruits (except Durian, Lanzones and Mangosteen), meat and other food supplies come from the main island of Mindanao.
Phone signals are faint to weak and internet connection is a gift from heaven.
Jolo is the capital of a Kingdom led by Sultans whose powers stretched far and wide centuries ago, one of whom was received as a guest of a Chinese Emperor who died during the sojourn and whose remains were buried in China.
This is the Kingdom which has a standing claim on part of the island of Borneo yet decades of neglect and misguided approaches turned into the sorry state that it is now.
This is not a hopeless case though.
With the directive of President Duterte for the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) to focus on the poverty incidence in Mindanao and sustain the peace gains, I and the MinDA staff will prepare a grounds-consultation-based plan.
This is a battle plan for the other front which is critical in winning the war against poverty and extremism in the Southern Philippines.
I will describe this as a “Shock and Awe” Strategy intended to win the hearts and minds of the people of Jolo and Sulu.
When I shared the planned approach with Sulu Governor Sakur Tan yesterday, he said: “If government can do that, it will be victorious in Sulu and with that you win the fight for peace in Mindanao.”
Big dreams and ambitious plans indeed but you don’t confront a man wielding an AK-47 with a knife neither should you confront a bandit’s “Kumpit” with a paddle boat.
With the will of President Duterte to achieve change and sustain peace in Mindanao, this could be done.
An effective two-pronged approach – the fight in the mountains and the battle for the minds and hearts – could win the war and Jolo would regain its past glory.
(Photos of the actual inspection of the area hit by a fire in Jolo Feb. 3 were taken by the MinDA media team.)
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