GMA inaugurates Mal-Mar bridge

PAGALUNGAN, Maguindanao — President Arroyo inaugurated here yesterday a P161-million bridge connecting former rebel enclaves to key trading centers in the province, a major component of the Malitubog-Maridagao (Mal-Mar) irrigation project (MMIP).

The P3-billion Mal-Mar project being bankrolled by the Japanese government can irrigate some 10,000 hectares of farmlands in rebel strongholds at the border of Maguindanao and North Cotabato, both in Central Mindanao.

The President arrived here past 11 a.m. and was joined by Agriculture Secretary Luisito Lorenzo, North Cotabato Gov. Emmanuel Piñol, MMIP project director Norodin Oyod and Maguindanao government officials led by Maguindanao Vice Gov. Datu Bimbo Sinsuat.

Also present in the ceremony were US Ambassador Francis Ricciardone, US-Pacific Fleet Forces commander Adm. Thomas Fargo, Japan Consul-General Akio Egawa, Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) chief of mission Mitsuru Tanuki and Japan financial attaché Hiromichi Sakuma.

"This place was once a battlefield controlled by the enemy. Therefore, for so long, during the past 14 years, this (MMIP) project could not be implemented," Mrs. Arroyo told local leaders in a brief speech.

The construction of the Mal-Mar irrigation facility was started in the early 1990s but was repeatedly stalled by security problems in the area — the scene of many fierce battles between rebel and government forces squabbling for control of strategic spots overlooking the project site.

Construction work at the project site was often punctuated by clashes between soldiers and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerrillas.

In 1993, a group of MILF rebels, led by Kagui Magandingan Manalos, took over the project site and held hostage for more than a week seven Korean engineers overseeing the construction of the irrigation dam to forestall a military offensive against the guerrillas scattered in surrounding barangays.

The hostages were released and the rebels later abandoned the project site through the joint intercession of local leaders.

"I hope there will be permanent peace now in the Mal-Mar area. This project is a showcase of our common peace and development efforts here," Mrs. Arroyo said.

Lt. Gen. Roy Kyamko, commander of the Armed Forces Southern Command, said a fragile peace reigns in the Mal-Mar area for more than two years now. Farmers, some of them former MILF rebels, are now peacefully tilling their lands with the help of different line agencies of the government.