Photos released by the 6th Infantry Division show the groundbreaking ceremony for a steel bridge in Tukanalipao village in Maguindanao's Mamasapano town. (Mindanao Examiner)
MAGUINDANAO – The Philippine government is to build a P10-million steel foot bridge inside a rebel enclave in Maguindanao province in the restive Muslim autonomous region where 44 police commandos were brutally killed in January during an anti-terror operation.
The bridge, according to military officials, is part of the government’s peace and development project in Tukanalipao village in Mamasapano town where government officials led the groundbreaking ceremony on March 31. It would be called “bridge of peace.”
It was attended by Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff General Gregorio Catapang, 6th Infantry Division commander Major General Edmundo Pangilinan, and Moro Islamic Liberation Front spokesman Von Al Haq.
Abad said that the project “will change the image of Mamasapano from a place of tragedy into a progressive town.”
He said aside from the bridge, the government will also build mosques, school buildings, road and livelihood projects that will benefit the communities in the province.
Catapang said that there will still be continuous conduct of a focused military operation. “Various peace infrastructure projects will be built in conflict areas of Maguindanao wherein the military forces will lead its implementation. Before I vow out of service in the military, I desire for peace and prosperity in Mindanao,” he said.
“The government is very optimistic that the said project will bring peace and development in the area land will help bring back normalcy in the lives of the people,” he added.
Once completed, rebels will also be able to use the bridge to move equipment and weapons much faster.
The area is within the territory of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s 105th Base Command whose members were tagged, along with the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, as behind the killings of the police commandos.
The commandos, members of the elite Special Action Force, were ambushed as they were returning from the mission that killed Malaysian bomber Zulkifli bin Hir inside the MILF stronghold.
Police and military have accused MILF commanders in the area of coddling Zulkifli and another Filipino bomber Basit Usman. (Mindanao Examiner)
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