‘Peace projects’ launched in former NPA strongholds in Cotabato

Nearly P30 million in infrastructure projects has been inaugurated across four areas of Makilala, Cotabato, once a place where New People’s Army guerrillas operated in the hinterlands with impunity.

The projects include road concreting in Kisante and Garsika worth P19.8 million, a P3.6 million drainage and flood canal in Batasan, and a P4.9 million flood-control box culvert in Bato. Local executives inaugurated the projects separately on Friday, Sept. 4.

Officials said the new infrastructure should help farmers move their products to trading areas in central Makilala, make it easier for students to travel from their barangays to school, and improve the work of local emergency responders in the four areas.

Major Gen. Alvin Luzon, commander of the Army’s 10th Infantry Division, said the projects complement joint efforts by the military, Makilala’s local government and the office of Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza to maintain peace in the municipality. The Army said Makilala was cleared of NPA presence through multisectoral peace initiatives.

The report said all towns and cities secured by the 10th Infantry Division across Region 11 and parts of Regions 10, 12 and 13 are now NPA-free. Up to 347 NPA members from Cotabato towns surrendered to the 10th Infantry Division and the 602nd Infantry Brigade over the past four years, with local officials, police, communities and former rebels involved in the process.