ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Aug. 10, 2012) – A coastal village in Zamboanga City once a notorious enclave of drug pushers and criminals is now slowly recovering from its bad image to a busy ship-building paradise in this part of Mindanao.
Boy Aminula, village chieftain of Recodo, said crimes had drastically dropped following intense police and military campaigns aimed at bringing peace back to the place where ship building and repairs are now a common sight.
The village, popularly known as “Varadero de Recodo,” is back on its old and traditional trade, ship-building, and with the improved peace and order and full support of the local government, Recodo, is again a favorite destination of ship owners because of the high quality of ships and vessels being built in the village.
Recodo was known as the ship-building capital of Western Mindanao – at least a dozen ships were being built at any given day in the village in the past – but because of illegal drugs, crimes soared and affected the local trade.
But Aminula said the prevailing situation now is much different from the past and all these he attributed to the authorities and local government officials, who worked hard to bring peace in the village.
He said village officials cannot do all the jobs in Recodo without the help of the authorities and residents themselves. Criminals have fled out of Recodo because of the active police patrol and support of the community to the efforts of the local government.
Villagers are now volunteering to help the government turn Recodo back in its old glory.
“Our village is now peaceful and we are slowly bringing back the old glory of Recodo as the ship-building capital of Western Mindanao,” Aminula told the Mindanao Examiner.
He said the Zamboanga City government also provided Recodo with a new two-storey building making it easier for them to run the daily affairs of the village. (Cynthia Jimenez)
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