Don't Forget the Warays

Nearly a week ago, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo regaled the country with her vision of the future and her lackeys were only too willing to share with her delusion. She unveiled her plan to divide the Philippine into four “super regions” to hasten economic development and delegate authority to the locals rather than retain the old system where “Imperial Manila” called the shots. I noted how she grouped Eastern Visayas (Region VIII), my home, with its richer cousins, Central Visayas and Western Visayas, into a super region. And when she rattled her proposed projects, Region VIII, the least developed of the three and one of the country's most impoverished areas, got only a few projects. This is understandable because Cebu gave her the votes in the last election while she was trounced by Fernando Poe Jr., in the Eastern Visayas.
Days later, a news article cited that 60 billion pesos (approximately $1.2 billion) was needed for infrastructure projects in Region VIII alone. The politicians interviewed expressed their fear that other provinces would get the lion’s share of the budget and the Warays, who need the funds more, would get the crumbs from the table. And this is where the government would gravely err.
In case they have forgotten, General Palparan failed to eradicate the New People’s Army in the region and once the rebels have regrouped, they will be free to roam again and oppress the Warays with impunity. If the government is dead serious in fulfilling its boast to finish off the Reds in two years, then Region VIII is a good place to start whatever end-game plans that they have. The Reds will simply transfer to the region when economic progress has driven them out of the neighboring provinces. Neglecting Region VIII is tantamount to handing it to Joma Sison on a silver platter.