First district of Maguindanao seen to be a peace hub

From the Philippine Star (Nov 3): First district of Maguindanao seen to be a peace hub

Residents of Maguindanao are convinced the first district of the province is to become a “peace hub” as a result of the government’s separate overtures with the two Moro revolutionary fronts whose largest camps in Mindanao are located in the area. The main bastion of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Camp Darapanan and the enclave of the most dominant group in the Moro National Liberation Front, Camp Ibrahim, are located in Maguindanao’s Sultan Kudarat and Datu Odin Sinsuat towns, respectively. Surprisingly, most investments of Chinese traders in Maguindanao are concentrated in Sultan Kudarat, apparently undaunted by the town’s being host to the MILF’s main headquarters, where there are thousands of guerillas in its surroundings. The mayor of Sultan Kudarat, Hadji Tucao Mastura, and the local police, have, in fact, been involving the MILF in maintaining peace and order in areas where there are business establishments owned by foreign investors.... The first district of Maguindanao is also host to Camp Siongco, the command headquarters of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, which has dozens of peace-building projects complementing President Benigno Aquino III’s confidence-building efforts in Muslim communities. Records of the Malaysian-led International Monitoring Team and the joint government-MILF ceasefire committee indicate a “zero encounter” between forces of the 6th Infantry Division and the MILF in the past 15 months....

http://www.philstar.com/nation/article.aspx?publicationSubCategoryId=200&articleId=866394