Army, PNP forces deployed near MILF camp for President Aquino's visit

From the Philippine News Agency (Feb 8): Army, PNP forces deployed near MILF camp for President Aquino's visit

Government forces backed by armored personnel carriers started securing the periphery of a town in Maguindanao where President Benigno Aquino III will visit Monday to launch the “Sajahatra Bangsamoro” project, the military here said.

Sajahatra is an Arabic word which means prosperity, peace and unity. Colonel Dickson Hermoso, speaking for the 6th Infantry Division, said the security arrangement is part of the preparations to ensure the safety of everybody.

Elements of the 7th and 40th Infantry Battalion have been deployed in the five-kilometer radius of Barangay Darapanan where the President will also meet Moro Islamic Liberation Front Chair Murad Ebrahim on Monday.

The President is the third Philippine president to set foot in an MILF enclave after former President Joseph Estrada and former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Estrada visited the MILF’s main enclave – Camp Abubakar in 2000 following an all-out war against the MILF that left more than 100 people dead. Estrada led the victory party and hoisting of Philippine flag inside the sprawling Camp Abubakar.

Former President Arroyo also visited the camp in 2006 after the Army’s 603rd Infantry Brigade headquarters was transferred there from nearby Barangay Pigcalagan, Sultan Kudarat.

President Aquino’s coming to the MILF Camp Darapanan on Monday is perceived by the MILF as an act of peace on the part of the Chief Executive and a clear indication of his desire to attain peace in the island.

Hermoso said there will be no joint Army-MILF security but exclusive to the Armed Forces because it is their mandate to secure the venue where the President is visiting. President Aquino will personally hand over to Murad and about 100 other MILF members a Philhealth card for them to avail of government health services.

Accompanying the President are his Cabinet secretaries, Armed Forces of the Philippines officials, diplomatic corps and members of the International Contact Group and International Monitoring Team.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=495785