by Rene V. Carbayas
ISABELA CITY, Basilan, Aug 2 (PIA) – The
joint regional and provincial peace and order council was convened Tuesday in
Basilan with Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Officer-in-Charge
Governor Mujiv Hataman to discuss measures to end hostilities in Sumisip,
Basilan.
During discussions, Regional Governor Hataman
underscored the need for government agencies and local government unit to address
the issues and conflicts affecting the communities south of Basilan with
pro-active stance.
Hataman specifically asked the Provincial
Agrarian Reform Office and the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) to
explain the situation of the Tumajubong Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries
Integrated Development Cooperative (TARBIDCI) that may have escalated and
caused the series of hostilities in Sumisip Municipality.
He also asked the concerned agencies for
specific interventions made to address the problem of the cooperative.
Provincial Agrarian Reform Officer Suwaib
Ismael reported that the TARBIDCI cooperative was beset with problems on
management and infightings among some beneficiaries, which eventually became
violent for some disgruntled individuals.
At least three separate incidents of
harassments since last year were reported, where rubber plantation workers fall
victims of ambush, waylaid and strafing on their way to gather rubber produce
inside the plantation. The latest bloody incident occurred last July 11, 2012
where seven plantation workers died and several others wounded.
Pursuit operations against perpetrators
ensued resulting to armed confrontations on July 26, 2012 against some 150
lawless elements (some of them believed to be members of the dreaded Abu
Sayyafs) that killed some 11 government soldiers, wounding some 18 others, and
displaced over a thousand families in Sumisip, Basilan.
Outgoing Basilan Police Chief PS/Supt. Alex
Lineses reported that appropriate charges in court were already filed involving
some suspects which the police did not identify. He added that the police
joined and provided security to the social welfare personnel in delivering
relief goods in different affected areas last July 29.
Anwary Akalon of the Provincial Social
Welfare and Development Office and point person of the Provincial Disaster Risk
Reduction and Management Committee reported that 2,000 family packs relief
goods were prepared and served to some 1,961 displaced families. He said that a
total of P603,000 worth of assistance to internally displaced persons were
delivered.
Meanwhile, Tipo-Tipo Mayor Ingatun Istarul
has asked the military to re-establish the abandoned detachments along major
roads in Tipo-Tipo and Sumisip, which he believed will help reduce atrocities
in this troubled southern part of Basilan. Istarul fears that as an adjacent
town of Sumisip, Tipo-Tipo is highly vulnerable and that spillover violence may
strike anytime if security is not tightened.
Outgoing Joint Task Force Basilan Commander
Col. Arthur Ang of the 104th Philippine Army Brigade reiterated the
call to foster the spirit of ‘Bayanihan’ in Basilan, urging stakeholders—the
local government units, civilians, government agencies, the military and the
police—to strengthen cooperation and collaboration to attain the elusive peace
and development.
Ang underscored the importance of completing the
on-going Basilan Circumferential Road (BCR) concreting as detrimental to the
full development of the province. He, further announced that the arrival of the
64th Infantry Battalion in Basilan recently is not intended for
military operations as alleged by some sectors but were here solely to protect
and provide security to ensure completion of the BCR. (RVC/PIA9-ZBST)
