“The Purok System is an effective strategy to mobilize, empower, and capacitate people in the neighborhood to participate in self-governance activities that will serve as the frontline force to address man’s needs in health, agriculture, education, tourism/livelihood, peace and order, environment/disaster response/climate change, youth and marginalized sectors. It gives everybody an important role in the shaping of a well-balanced community.” These were the initial words of Cong. Edgar Chatto as he lectured the topic: “Purok Power Movement during Day 3 of the National Peace and Order Council lecture series on Peace and Local Development”.
The series of lectures were organized by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), a report from Chatto’s office said.
Chatto was among the members of the panel of speakers who shared local government’s best practices on peace and development that included the Caraga Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC) chair Surigao del Sur Gov. Alexander Pimentel and RPOC 11 chair and Zamboanga City Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar.
Chatto himself was RPOC Central Visayas chairperson from 2011 until 2014 when he was then governor of Bohol.
The Purok Power Movement initially began as a health and information management system when Chatto was mayor of Balilihan. The movement was later expanded to include more sectors, including peace and order.
The program is a holistic, integrated, collaborative, and comprehensive approach to social development, anchored on basic human needs, and sectoral concerns in the community, designed to empower people.
The movement was institutionalized in 2011 through Provincial Ordinance No. 36.
This strategic collaboration resulted in marked economic growth and development of Bohol.
It has been said that economic growth played a crucial role in the neutralization of the Abu Sayaff Group who intruded here in 2017, Chatto said.
The sustainability of economic growth of Bohol is ensured under the leadership of Gov. Arthur Yap and Vice Gov. Rene Relampagos with the creation of the Community Development Program Executive Committee, Technical Working Group, Secretariat, and Action Groups.
The creation of the said entities follows the whole of nation approach under the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) aligned with the national policy on peace and development.
The 3-day series of lectures organized by the DILG also featured topics on government and civil society peace building, Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) peace efforts and conflict resolution, youth and women in peace and security.
The series of lectures were part of the observance of National Peace Consciousness Month this September with the theme “Healing as One Nation, Recovering as a Better Generation”.