Cotabato execs, Army bolster peacebuilding efforts

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Local executives in Cotabato province have reaffirmed their commitment to continue supporting the peacebuilding programs of their provincial government and the Army’s 10th Infantry Division. This initiative aims to restore normalcy in areas recently cleared of the New People’s Army (NPA). Radio reports on Monday stated that Governor Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza and 10th ID Commander Major General Alvin Luzon, along with his subordinate officers, met on Friday at her office in Kidapawan City, the provincial capital of Cotabato. They discussed the expansion of their cooperation on peacebuilding activities in the province's hinterlands. The headquarters of the 10th ID is located in Camp Manuel Yan in Mawab town, Davao de Oro in Region 11. It has two units stationed in Cotabato province: the 72nd and 39th Infantry Battalions. Cotabato, one of the four provinces in Region 12, is touted as the new investment frontier in Central Mindanao. It comprises 17 towns and covers 40 barangays in Kidapawan City. Local executives in Cotabato, along with units of the 10th ID and the 602nd Infantry Brigade under the 6th Infantry Division, have helped secure the surrender, in batches since 2023, of 412 NPAs and 534 members of the now both defunct Dawlah Islamiya and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters from areas close to the Ligawasan Delta. Municipal and barangay officials in Magpet, Arakan, Antipas, and President Quirino, where the NPAs once operated, and Mayors Rolando Recinto and Evangeline Guzman, of Midsayap and Kabacan, respectively, separately told reporters on Monday that their multi-sector peace and order councils are solidly behind the peacekeeping initiatives of the 10th ID, the 6th ID, the Cotabato Provincial Police Office, and the office of Taliño-Mendoza. Luzon said the administration of Taliño-Mendoza, who is also the presiding chairperson of the multi-sector, inter-agency Regional Development Council 12 (covering four cities and four provinces in Region 12), and her constituent mayors were instrumental in the reintroduction into mainstream society of all the NPAs who had surrendered to their units in recent years.