Negros Oriental 1st District Rep. Jocelyn S. Limkaichong was cited by the Armed Forces of the Philippines for “significantly” contributing to the success of security plan Bayanihan, the military’s program which seeks to end insurgency through the implementation of development projects in far-flung areas.
Along with 19 other individuals and groups, Congressman Limkaichong personally received a plaque of recognition from the recently-installed AFP Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Jessie D. Dellosa during the AFP Bayanihan Awards Night held Dec. 19 at Camp Aguinaldo.
The Congresswoman was cited “for openly supporting the peace and development efforts of the AFP that inspired the local leaders of the 1st District, Negros Oriental to support the Internal Peace and Security Plan Bayanihan in implementing programs responsive to the needs of the local populace, thereby, restoring the people’s trust and confidence in the government.”
Limkaichong was also recognized for helping bring the AFP “closer to the Negrenses”.
The Congresswoman has established a strong partnership with the latter in implementing outreach programs in the far-flung and depressed barangays in the 1st District, “making sure that the government and its services are felt in these areas.”
Limkaichong thanked the AFP for recognizing her “humble efforts in helping Security Plan Bayanihan succeed” and remarked: “There still is a long way for us to go, but I am positive that with our strong partnership with the AFP and the communities concerned, we surely can finally win peace and establish a more secure environment conducive to genuine peace and development — in insurgency ‘hot spots’, and in the entire country. The award further inspires me to do even just better.”
Receiving the award while the country is in a state of national calamity, and her home province “badly-hit” by the typhoon, Limkaichong dedicated the award to “the thousand lives lost…to thousands and thousands more weeping due to their respective loved ones’ loss…” because of typhoon Sendong.
Expressing her “extreme sadness and concern” over the death toll wreaked by the typhoon, and its damage on infrastructure, agriculture, and livelihood to her “beloved provincemates, and fellowmen,” she appealed to her fellow public servants, particularly those in the local government units unaffected by this recent calamity, to appropriate a portion of their respective calamity fund to help out “our brothers and sisters in the LGUs that were severely hit by Sendong”.
“Now more than ever should we show the bayanihan spirit innate among us Filipinos, and the heroes within us.”
