Former MNLF camp in North Cotabato now a productive peace zone

In what was once the arena of one of the most violent clashes between the government and Muslim rebels has now sprouted a zone of productivity and peace, according to Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) leader Datu Dima Ambil.

"There is now control in the area. All over, it is now normal," said Ambil who was formerly known as Kumander Aladdin and who had once commanded MNLF troops in Cotabato and in some parts of Maguindanao.

Now, Ambil is president of the Farmers Irrigators Association (FIA) of Carmen, North Cotabato, just one of the towns which have benefited from the P3.18-billion Malitubog-Maridagao Irrigation (Mal-Mar) project.

"We are no longer rebels. The war is over," Ambil said during a press conference Tuesday at the National Irrigation Authority (NIA).

Ambil, himself, is now a farmer, setting aside the firearms he held for over two decades. He works on his modest 10-hectare farm in Barangay Nasapia in Carmen from which he harvests a maximum of 270 cavans of palay three times a year.

The change of heart came when progress finally came to Cotabato and Maguindanao with the completion of the diversion dam which was inaugurated by President Arroyo on Sept. 22, 2001.

With the completion of the diversion dam, Ambil and 10,000 other family-beneficiaries were able to increase production from a mere 34 cavans per hectare to nearly triple at 84 cavans which meant that land value shot up from P20,000 to P100,000.

"The project shows the effectiveness of President Macapagal-Arroyo’s efforts to achieve peace and development in Central Mindanao," Ambil said.

Already, the newfound atmosphere of peace and progress has attracted more Muslim rebels back to the fold.

According to Ambil, who is a member of the MNLF security council, 195 Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels have enlisted with the MNLF if only to be able to share in the life of peace and development in the areas benefited by the operation of the Mal-Mar project.

"These MILF rebels have joined the MNLF which continues to respect the 1996 peace agreement. Mal-Mar is one of the components of that agreement and we are starting to reap the fruits of that accord," Ambil said.

Now comes yet another wave of benefits for the people of Cotabato and Maguindanao with the completion of the bridge that would link Cotabato to Maguindanao and the siphon component of the Mal-Mar project.

Mrs. Arroyo will be inaugurating the bridge and siphon component of the Mal-Mar project on Nov. 18 that will underscore the continuing efforts of her administration to bring progress in Mindanao.

The bridge, one hundred meters long and six meters wide, will connect Barangay Gocotan in Pikit, North Cotabato and Barangay Kilangan in Pagalungan, Maguindanao.

The siphon project will divert water to irrigate more than 4,100 hectares of riceland, 3,000 in Pikit and 1,100 in Pagalungan. And when completed, it will serve a total of 12,000 hectares from which 5,840 families stand to benefit.

But progress had been long in coming for the people of Cotabato and Maguindanao.

The Mal-Mar project took 14 years to complete because of the unstable peace and order situation in the area which was a virtual war zone with the frequent skirmishes between the Muslim rebels and government forces.

Ambil recalled how the rebels "were the problems and (were the ones) who destroyed the dam."

The original Korean contractors even abandoned the project in the 1990s after the MILF threatened to conduct ambuscades in a bid to sabotage its completion.

Ambil noted that it took the appointment of a Muslim project manager, Noldin S. Oyod, to bring back peace to the area and allow construction to resume.

Indeed, it was only after Oyod was able to bring all the warring factions in the area to one table and agree on the necessity of completing the Mal-Mar irrigation project.

"We have come a long way from the times when we hardly had anything to eat," said Edwin Bandila, another Cotabato farmer.

Bandila recalled how they could only harvest once a year because of the parched lands, awaiting only the rainy season before they could plant rice. Or how they could not look beyond the next meal they would have.

"But progress has definitely come to our area. When the education of our children was farthest from our minds before, that is no longer true nowadays. We can now dream for ourselves, our children and beyond," said Bandila.