This Week’s Milestones: Oct. 6-12, 2019

The military declared an end to the war between the government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) during the visit of former Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff, Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr., to MILF’s Camp Darapanan in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao province.

Galvez, whose troops entered Camp Darapanan unarmed, became the first military chief to visit the seat of the MILF leadership.

Some 6,000 men and women lined the 5-kilometer stretch to Camp Darapanan to welcome Galvez. The declaration ends a decadeslong conflict that cost thousands of lives in Mindanao.

Oct. 9, 2018

Groundbreaking rites were held in the town of Minalin in Pampanga province for the construction of a P6-billion flood mitigation project dubbed the “Integrated Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation Project.”

The project involves the construction of a 33-kilometer artificial river called the Third River, which aims to improve drainage systems of major rivers in Pampanga.

The man-made river will connect the Bungang Ginto River in the towns of Mexico and San Simon, Caduang Tete River in Macabebe town, and Sapang Maragul River in Masantol town.

Compiled by Kathleen de Villa, Inquirer Research