North Cotabato gov rallies people for lasting peace

MAKILALA, North Cotabato – Gov. Emmylou Talino-Mendoza rallied the people of her province to support the peace process between the government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) which she said is key to sustaining the province’s growth.

She said lasting peace is key to progress in the province which, she said, was able to withstand a series of clashes between Moro guerrillas and government forces.

The governor said while investments increased to 24 percent in 2014, this was largely due to local capital.

Among the investments she cited was Carmen Palm Oil Corp., which has built a mill in the province with a capacity of 30 tons per hour.

The governor said local investments helped increase the number of jobs to 3,323 in 2014 but more jobs could be created if peace lingered.

She said the provincial government is coordinating with the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (Opapp) for an information campaign on the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), which is now under fire following the deaths of 44 police commandos in an operation to capture or kill international terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias “Marwan” inside Moro rebel territory.

“Will we allow violence in our communities to continue, let the never ending series of killings to go on or end these altogether and start to mend the scars of yesterday?” she said.

The provincial government, she said, would continue to implement programs that could boost economic activity.

Among these, she said, is the repair of a 15.2 km road between Carmen town and Banisilan town which cost nearly P50 million. Allan Nawal, Inquirer Mindanao