• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte yesterday brought her anti-insurgency and pro-education campaign to sacadas or migrant sugarcane workers in her third visit to Negros Occidental after being elected the country’s second highest official last year.
In La Castellana, Duterte, co-vice chairperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), was welcomed by about 5,000 sacadas.
She said that she had an opportunity to campaign against the New People’s Army (NPA), who still have remnants in Negros Island.
Duterte joined Antique Governor Rhodora Cadiao, who annually visits the sacadas from her province working in haciendas in Negros Occidental, to check on their conditions.
Cadiao earlier said that the “Bisita Sacada” initiative aligns with Duterte’s mandate as NTF-ELCAC co-vice chair, noting that “Antiqueño sacadas “are vulnerable to recruitment of the NPA.
Duterte, who assisted Cadiao in the distribution of Christmas gifts to the migrant sugarcane workers, also pushed her advocacy on the importance of education as key to end the cycle of poverty, how it can transform one’s living condition, and become part of nation-building.
The Vice President also paid a courtesy call to Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer, who brought her to meet with Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson as well.
Ferrer said he was “very honored” to be visited by the Vice President, for the first time, in his office at the Provincial Capitol in Bacolod City.
In an interview at the Governor’s Office, Duterte said she visited Negros Occidental to bring the message of education and peace, and thanked the Negrenses for their support during the 2022 national elections.
“I am very thankful to the people of Negros Occidental for their support and the vote, and support for the Department of Education,” she said.
Duterte also thanked the services and sacrifices of teachers, who wanted to ensure the better future of students. | GB
