Dolorfino remembered for role in peaceful elections in ARMM

COTABATO CITY — Brig. Gen. Mohammad Ben Dolorfino, who bade city residents goodbye yesterday following the completion of his tour of duty as commander of the 2nd Marine Brigade, will be remembered for his role in what many believe were the first-ever peaceful elections in the 15-year-old Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) last Aug. 8.

Dolorfino headed the interim Task Force HOPE (Honest, Orderly and Peaceful Elections), which helped the Commission on Elections administer the fifth ARMM elections.

The task force, composed of different police and military units, was decommissioned after the elections which, compared to past regional polls, were never disrupted by a single violent incident.

According to sources in the Armed Forces Southern Command in Zamboanga City, Dolorfino, a graduate of the Philippine Military Academy, will assume today the position of Southcom deputy commander.

Dolorfino became popular in Central Mindanao for his role in the conversion of the 3,000-hectare Buliok complex, the supposed "last frontier" of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, into a progressive peace zone.

The military liberated the once impregnable Buliok complex, located at the boundary of Pikit, North Cotabato and Pagalungan, Maguindanao, from MILF control on Feb. 14, 2003, after two weeks of air, artillery and air offensives.

The Marines never figured even in a single armed confrontation with MILF forces in the Buliok complex while Dolorfino and his men were securing the area.

In fact, Dolorfino was the first military officer to set foot on Buliok’s Kalbugan district, the known gateway to the 220,000-hectare Liguasan Marsh, to bring relief goods and medical supplies to thousands of poor Muslim residents there, many of them dependents of MILF guerrillas.

Dolorfino and his men were also credited for the neutralization of more than 50 kidnappers and highway robbers operating in isolated towns in Lanao del Sur, which was under his jurisdiction as commander of the anti-crime Task Force Ranao.

"We ought to thank God for giving us Gen. Dolorfino who helped us foster peace and sustainable development in the Buliok complex," North Cotabato Gov. Emmanuel Piñol told The STAR.