By CESAR JOLITO III
Thousands of farmers in southern Negros are calling on Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) Director-General Jose Francisco “Kiko” Benitez to take immediate steps toward the long-delayed revival of the Dacongcogon Sugar Mill project, which they describe as a key driver for economic recovery and peacebuilding in insurgency-affected communities.
In a letter dated May 10, retired fiscal Rolando Parpa, chairperson of the Dacongcogon Cooperative, urged Benitez — who also serves as Cabinet Officer for Regional Development and Security — to convene the Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF-ELCAC) in the Negros Island Region for the immediate deliberation and implementation of a resolution supporting the project’s revival.
The appeal follows the issuance of Resolution No. 3 by the RTF-ELCAC in Western Visayas on February 12, which endorsed the sugar mill revival as a “strategic socioeconomic intervention” aimed at promoting peace, development and stability in hinterland communities.
The resolution was anchored on earlier directives from then National Task Force – ELCAC Vice Chair and National Security Adviser Eduardo Año, along with recommendations from the Office of the Presidential Management Staff and the Office of the Ombudsman.
Parpa said nearly 10,000 farmers have long been waiting for government action on what he called a “masses-based social project,” stressing that the revival of the Dacongcogon Sugar Mill could significantly improve rural livelihoods and restore public trust in government institutions.
“The revival of the Dacongcogon Sugar Mill will not only improve the lives of farmers and their families but will also preserve and restore the trust and confidence of the people in government,” Parpa said in a statement.
He added that many communities in the southern Negros CHICKS area — composed of Candoni, Hinoba-an, Ilog, Cauayan, Kabankalan City, and Sipalay — continue to struggle with poverty and insurgency-related challenges.
Cauayan and Sipalay have previously been classified by provincial authorities as poverty- and insurgency-affected areas.
The renewed appeal comes amid continuing security concerns in parts of Negros Occidental, including reported armed encounters between government forces and remnants of the New People’s Army in areas such as Toboso and Cauayan, as well as incidents in Sipalay City.
Advocates of the project argue that addressing long-standing poverty through agricultural and industrial revival remains essential to achieving lasting peace in rural communities, aligning with Executive Order No. 70, which institutionalized a whole-of-nation approach to ending local communist armed conflict under the National Task Force – ELCAC.
They said the revival of the sugar mill could generate employment, boost agricultural productivity, and help reduce perceptions of government neglect in remote farming areas.
“For the people in the hinterland areas, economic opportunity is the better answer,” Parpa emphasized, adding that sustainable development programs remain crucial in addressing the root causes of insurgency and social unrest in southern Negros./CJ, WDJ