President Rodrigo R. Duterte arrived here on Thursday,
encouraging the people of Basilan to shun hatred and help his administration in
developing the island province by working on a consensus on how to move
forward.
In his speech at Camp Luis Biel III, the President said the
government and Moro rebels can’t fight forever as he renewed his commitment to
the Moro people, noting he “will give what they want.”
PRRD encouraged the local residents not to add hatred to the
already tense situation there that have claimed too many lives. He vowed to
find money for the development of Basilan.
The President is pushing for a federal form of government to
once and for all solve the Moro rebellion as well other forms of insurgency in
the Philippines
During a discussion with Basilan’s local officials,
President Duterte said he is working to stop corruption in government to raise
money. He said that if the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of
Customs (BOC) can collect the right taxes and duties, he could have funds to
develop Basilan. The BIR lost PHP300 million a day due to corruption and the
BOC PHP200 million daily, he said.
Lamenting that he lost four relatives as a result of the Mindanao war, the President said there is restiveness and
rebellion in the region because the Moro people felt that they are being left
behind. To address rebellion and violence, there must be livelihood for the
people, and the government should extend the basic needs of poor communities,
PRRD said.
Another concern is the Abu Sayyaf Group, of which he
expressed willingness to talk to them. Basilan’s local officials said new
members of the bandit group now come from Malaysia
They also reported "cocolisap" infestation in the
province that should be immediately addressed. They said they already declared
a state of calamity because of the infestation, which has affected 30 to 40
percent of coconut trees in the province. More than 3,000 families have already
received assistance from the government.
As a response, the President invited the Basilan LGU
officials to have a consensus so they could identity problems confronting the
province. He said they could have more meetings in the future, possibly in
Malacanang.
To address the needs of the residents displaced by the
fighting in Al Barka, Tipo-Tipo and Ungkaya Pukan, he said he will instruct the
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to immediately send
assistance there. >p>Regarding Basilan’s coconut sector, he promised to
help the industry there and one of the possible sources of money is the coco
levy fund, which was declared public by the Supreme Court.
The President said that once a legal mechanism is available,
he can release money for the rehabilitation of the Basilan coconut industry.
Aside from meeting Basilan’s local officials and residents,
the President also had a security meeting with the military officials of
Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom).
PRRD also led the ceremonial distribution of relief goods to
the people affected by the violence in the province.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=906365
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