In case you missed it, there was a big show that was held in Dumaguete City last Wednesday. There was a bike-for-a-cause, a motorcade, a skydiving show and a program at the Aquino Freedom Park, with no less than the Secretary of National Defense Voltaire Gazmin as guest of honor.
The occasion was the signing by the Secretary of National Defense of the declaration that Negros Oriental is conflict-manageable and development-ready.
This means that the government is of the firm belief that the insurgency movement has significantly dwindled to a point that it is no longer a threat to the stability of Negros Oriental, and that with the absence of war, development could now set in.
This is good news especially to the people in hinterland barangays who have been affected and displaced by the hostilities between the remnants of the rebel group and the government troops.
This is good news even to those of us who only get to read of the peace and order situation in the remote corners of our island.
But the task of developing our community will not automatically unfold before our eyes. The quest for good government, which has been partly espoused by the radical groups, continues.
With the Armed Forces of the Philippines taking a back seat in the maintenance of the peace and order condition of the island, it is now the time for local governments and government line agencies to get their acts together, and bring the real government services to the people.
As for We the People, politics aside, we have the duty to be on the lookout for abuses of government instrumentalities and factotums, and expose them so these will be stopped, or nipped in the bud.
This is not a time for complacency and contentment. Government-citizen partnership in the task of governance will continue to be tested, even when we shall eventually have put insurgency behind us.
