Across the Pantaron Mountains: Reaching Communities Beyond the Last Road

TAGUM CITY — For five days in July, soldiers, Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit Active Auxiliaries (CAAs), government workers, Indigenous leaders, and community volunteers crossed rivers, climbed mountain trails, and carried supplies on foot into some of Talaingod’s most isolated Indigenous communities—places where roads disappear long before the journey ends.

From July 11 to 15, the 60th Infantry (Mediator) Battalion led its flagship “Serbisyong may Puso at Malasakit” Peace and Development Initiative across the geographically isolated sitios of Nasilaban, Bagang, Nalubas, Nabalabag, Saso, and Laboo in Barangay Palma Gil, Talaingod, Davao del Norte.

The mission delivered educational assistance, livelihood support, agricultural inputs, infrastructure improvements, and peace and development programs benefiting around 150 households and more than 500 Indigenous residents.

Reaching the communities, however, proved to be as significant as the assistance itself.

With no vehicle access to several sitios, Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit Active Auxiliaries (CAAs) volunteered their own habal-habal motorcycles to transport supplies where trails remained passable. Beyond the last road, soldiers, CAAs, and Indigenous residents carried school furniture, construction materials, farming inputs, and relief items on foot across steep mountain paths and river crossings until they reached the communities.

For former rebels, such efforts carry significance beyond humanitarian assistance.

For decades, parts of Talaingod and the Pantaron Mountain Range were known not only for their geographic isolation but also as areas where the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) maintained influence and organizational presence. Former rebels say the combination of difficult terrain, limited government access, and the absence of basic services created conditions that insurgent structures were able to exploit for years.

Viewed from that perspective, peace and development missions represent more than the delivery of government assistance. They also signify the gradual expansion of state presence into communities where conflict, isolation, and underdevelopment have long intersected.

Lieutenant Colonel Jesus L. Rosete, commanding officer of the 60IB, said the mission demonstrated how government agencies, local government units, Indigenous leaders, development partners, CAAs, soldiers, and community members could work together under the Whole-of-Nation Approach.

“This mission demonstrates that lasting peace is built when government agencies, local government units, Indigenous leaders, development partners, our CAAs, soldiers, and the communities themselves move with one purpose and one heart. Through the enduring Filipino spirit of bayanihan, no challenge is insurmountable and no community is ever beyond the reach of government service,” Rosete said.

Central to the initiative were two community programs.

The Mediator PAGLAUM Program focuses on education, values formation, and youth leadership, encouraging children to pursue learning instead of armed struggle through the campaign “Papel ug Lapis, Dili Pusil ug Bala.”

Complementing it is the Mediator KALAMBOAN Program, which promotes food security, sustainable agriculture, livelihood development, and community self-reliance to strengthen long-term community resilience.

Rosete said the programs reflect the Battalion’s belief that security operations alone cannot sustain peace without parallel investments in education, livelihoods, and community development.

“Security and development go hand in hand. Through Mediator PAGLAUM, we invest in the minds and character of our children. Through Mediator KALAMBOAN, we strengthen the livelihoods and food security of our families. Together, these programs embody our belief that lasting peace is achieved not only by protecting communities from threats but by empowering people with education, opportunity, and hope through the Whole-of-Nation Approach and the enduring spirit of bayanihan,” he said.

For communities scattered across the Pantaron Mountains, the mission illustrated both the challenges and possibilities of delivering government services where infrastructure remains limited. Every classroom repaired, every sack of seed carried across mountain trails, and every partnership forged between government institutions and Indigenous communities reflected an effort to reduce the isolation that has long characterized parts of Talaingod.

As government agencies continue to pursue peace and development initiatives in geographically isolated areas, the experience of Barangay Palma Gil underscores a reality familiar to many who have lived through the conflict: lasting peace is built not only through security measures but also through sustained good governance, accessible public services, and the presence of institutions in communities that for generations have existed beyond the last road.