From the Philippine News Agency (Feb 23):
GPH-MILF ceasefire mechanisms to ensure Cotabato road project completion
Despite security threats, the construction of a
farm-to-market road that will connect barangays from the towns of Aleosan and
Pikit in Cotabato province will push through, thanks to the firm commitment of
the joint ceasefire mechanisms of the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and
the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to ensure security towards project
completion.
In November 2015, Phase 1 of the concreting of the
5-kilometer Pagangan-Tubak, Aleosan-New Valencia-Bualon-Pamalian, Pikit Road started
as a project under the Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (PAMANA), the national
government’s convergence program that extends development interventions to
isolated, hard-to-reach and conflict-affected communities.
The said project is undertaken through the Department of
Agriculture's PAMANA FY 2015 fund and implemented by the Department of Public
Works and Highways (DPWH).
The road is expected to benefit more than 300 households
when completed. Most people in the barangays where the road will be built are
Bangsamoro and civilian members of both the MILF and the Moro National
Liberation Front (MNLF).
However, on Jan. 15, work on the project was suspended due
to extortion and security threats received by the local government of Barangay
Pagangan from Sheik Muhidin Amimbang, chief of staff of brigands Bangsamoro
Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF). Amimbang sent a letter demanding for a certain
percentage of the project cost which amounted to more than half-a-million pesos
(PHP500,000.00).
When the barangay officials did not respond to the threat,
the BIFF burned a closed van owned by the DPWH-project contractor Sunstone
Construction and strafed the house of Barangay Pagangan Chairman Gregorio
Guanzon.
"We will not let any lawless group sabotage a project
for the people. The ceasefire mechanisms of the government and the MILF will
work with our security mechanisms to help ensure the security and welfare of
the workers and construction facilities in the area," said GPH
Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) Secretariat
Director Carlos Sol, Jr. during a coordination meeting hosted by the Municipal
Peace and Order Council of Aleosan earlier this month.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the ceasefire
mechanisms of the parties which include the GPH-MILF CCCH; Team Site 1 of the
International Monitoring Team - M10; Local Monitoring Team of Cotabato
province; Provincial Local Government of Cotabato Province; Municipal Local Government
of Aleosan; Barangay LGU of Pagangan, Aleosan; Representatives of the DPWH
Cotabato Province; the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP); and the
Philippine National Police (PNP).
“We should be supportive [of] the development projects [by]
the Government in Mindanao,” Sol added. Butch Malang of the MILF CCCH
said that “[t]he MILF will support and participate on security matters relative
to the completion of the project.”
AFP LTC Romeo Bautista (GSC) PA, Commanding Officer of the
45th Infantry Battalion, 6ID, PA meanwhile, has committed military personnel to
secure the project facility and set up a temporary patrol base.
The PNP is already conducting its investigation into the
extortion issue as well as the acts of violence committed as it prepares to
file a case against the BIFF.
Participants to the meeting agreed that the security
cooperation between the GPH and MILF shall be established before the start of
the project in order to secure the equipment, personnel and others involved in
the road project implementation.
In the past, the combined efforts of the ceasefire
mechanisms under the Bangsamoro peace process have likewise been instrumental
in securing other project facilities against the threats of armed elements and
in keeping the peace on the ground.
Testament to this is the decision of the GPH and MILF
negotiating panels to renew the mandates of the International Monitoring Team
(IMT) and the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG) in their recent meeting in Malaysia.
Aside from monitoring the implementation of the cessation of
hostilities between the GPH and the MILF, the IMT also monitors the
humanitarian, rehabilitation, development and socio-economic assistance aspects
of the signed agreements, the observance of international humanitarian laws and
respect for human rights, and the verification and reporting on basic
undertaking of the Parties to protect civilians and civilian communities.
The AHJAG, on the other hand, is responsible for
coordinating, monitoring and disseminating information between the GPH and the
MILF in order to isolate and interdict all criminal
syndicates/kidnap-for-ransom groups and other criminal groups operating in
Bangsamoro communities and nearby areas.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=859852
