North Cotabato pleads for safety of road workers

COTABATO CITY — The provincial government of North Cotabato has asked the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to assure "in writing " the safety of workers involved in road-building and electrification projects in the vicinity of the Buliok Complex to ensure the continuity of local and foreign-funded socio-economic ventures there.

North Cotabato Gov. Emmanuel Piñol, chairman of the provincial peace and order council, told Von Al-Haq, chairman of the MILF’s ceasefire committee and Malaysian Gen. Dato Zulkifeli of the International Monitoring Team (IMT) that government workers implementing various rehabilitation projects in the Buliok Complex can efficiently work only if they feel secure.

The IMT, composed of soldiers from Malaysia, Brunei and civilian officials from Libya, helps enforce the ceasefire in areas where MILF forces are scattered. The Buliok Complex is the MILF’s former main enclave at the border of Pikit, North Cotabato and Pagalungan, Maguindanao, which fell to government control after a week-long military offensive in 2003.

The other day’s meeting among Piñol, known for his hardline stand against rouge secessionist forces in his province, Al-Haq and Zulkifeli focused on low-level, backdoor peace agreements between the MILF and the provincial government.

Also present in the meeting was Brig. Gen. Ramon Santos, chairman of the government’s ceasefire committee.

Piñol has offered a space at the North Cotabato provincial capitol where the joint ceasefire committee can hold office to efficiently monitor the ceasefire in the province.

"What we want for now is an assurance from the MILF that our men working in road-building and electrification projects will be safe and that they can work at the Buliok Complex without being disrupted by security problems," Piñol told Al-Haq.

Piñol said he is also willing to provide MILF residents in the Buliok Complex assorted crop seedlings and fertilizers to help improve their productivity.

Al-Haq said he is certain their central committee, chaired by Al-Haj Murad, will respond positively to Piñol’s clamor.

"The MILF is for peace and sustainable development and there is no problem with us helping secure government workers in their project sites inside our territories," Al-Haq said. — John Unson