Cotabato LGU execs, Army to expand peacebuilding programs

COTABATO CITY — Local executives and officials from the Army's 6th Infantry Division have agreed to expand their joint peace initiatives aimed at sustaining religious and cultural solidarity among the Muslim, Christian, and non-Moro indigenous communities in Cotabato province.

The consensus was reached during a dialogue on Friday, February 28, at Camp Siongco in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte, attended by Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza, Major Gen. Donald Gumiran, commander of the 6th ID, and his subordinate officers, along with municipal and provincial officials. 

Gumiran, who previously served as commander of the Army's 602nd Infantry Brigade overseeing several towns in Cotabato, took charge of the 6th ID in December through a formal assumption ceremony at Camp Siongco, officiated by Lt. Gen. Roy Galido, commander of the Philippine Army.

Apart from the the mayors of different towns in Cotabato, Gumiran on Sunday said that Friday's event at Camp Siongco was also attended by Mendoza's executive secretary, Jessie Enid Jr., Matalam Vice Mayor Ralph Ryan Rafael, and Mohammad Kelie Antao, a member of the 80-seat Bangsamoro regional parliament.

“We are grateful to all of them for their continuing support to our community-based peacebuilding activities in Cotabato province,” Gumiran said.

Local government units in Cotabato played a key role in facilitating the reintegration of over 200 former members of the New People's Army, the weakened Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, and their ally, the Dawlah Islamiya, who surrendered to units of the 602nd Infantry Brigade while Gumiran was still its commander.

Mendoza, who chairs the Regional Development Council 12, which covers four provinces and four cities in Region 12, announced that LGUs under her office will collaborate with Army units in Cotabato to launch special outreach missions in predominantly Muslim areas of the province during the Islamic Ramadan fasting season.

Muslims fast from dawn to dusk during Ramadan, a holy month in Islam, as a religious obligation and focus on reparations for wrongdoings.