MARAWI CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 9, 2011) – Some 300 people attended a multi-sectoral peace forum organized by the Philippine Army and the municipal government of Picong in Lanao del Sur province in Mindanao.
The forum, held Tuesday at the municipal gym, was attended government and military officials headed by Mayor Alinader Balindong Colonel Daniel Lucero, commander of the 103rd Infantry Brigade.
Among those who spoke during the forum were Lieutenant Colonel Ceasar Marlon Yadao, commander of the 51st Infantry Battalion and main organizer of the event. He discussed the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Internal Peace and Security Plan “Bayanihan.”
Feliciano Alejandro Serino II, of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, also spoke in the forum and tackled the government anti-drug campaign in the country.
Members of the International Monitoring Team-Mindanao also spoke and discussed the ongoing peace process, among others. And so were other sectoral representatives.
Lucero, who was the guest of honor and speaker in the forum, emphasized the role of the Philippine Army, particularly troops from the 103rd Infantry Brigade, as protectors of the people. “We are like a human body; the military as one part and the people as another; harmonious functioning of each leads to peace and development,” he said. (Mindanao Examiner)