FORT RAMON MAGSAYSAY, Palayan City – “Insurgency cannot be solved by bullets alone.”
Thus said Col. Leonilo P. Bongcawil, 7ID chief of staff, during the symposium conducted here Thursday in connection with the celebration of the Human Rights Month this November.
He said that “winning hearts and minds of the people” are essential in the fight against insurgents.
The forum was held at the division’s multi-purpose hall and attended by the Army’s executive officers, sergeant majors of line units within the 7ID area of responsibility, and personnel within the camp.
Bongcawil formally welcomed the HPA Human Rights team headed by Lt. Col. Joel Alejandro S. Nacnac and the participants on behalf of Major Gen. Ralph A Villanueva, commander of the 7ID.
He said: “Only through peaceful means such as adherence to the International Humanitarian Law and upholding of human rights can we get them to our side. I believe that the best weapon against insurgency is still a disciplined soldier.”
The symposium focused on the general rules governing the conduct of hostilities applicable in non-international armed conflict, the protocol additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the protection of victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts, and Republic Act No. 9372 otherwise known as the Human Security Act of 2007, which is an act to secure the state and protect our people from terrorism.
He said the command acknowledges the fact that there cannot be peace without observance and respect for human rights by both the state and the individual. Neither can human rights be fulfilled in the absence of peace.
Nacnac, as one of the guest instructors, said : “Peace and human rights are interdependent and indispensable in the realization of human security and a meaningful and happy life for all without distinction.”
