Duterte’s visit to Maguindanao town will be simple—gov

President Rodrigo R. Duterte. TOTO LOZANO/PPD

COTABATO CITY, Philippines—President Rodrigo Duterte’s visit to Buluan town in Maguindanao on Friday will be very simple, Maguindanao Gov. Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu said.

The President will embark on his first provincial sortie as the country’s highest leader in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

He will be in Basilan on Thursday and Maguindanao on Friday.

“We are honored, President Duterte has chosen Maguindanao or ARMM for his visits since becoming President, this is very historic and unprecedented,” Mangudadatu told reporters.

Mangudadatu said there will be no fanfare in Duterte’s visit “because he wanted simple and subdued welcome program.”

While in Buluan, Duterte will unveil and inaugurate the first Muslim-built power plant expected to ease power woes in Maguindanao.

The Mangudadatu’s clan built the 4.5-megawatt biomass power plant in Buluan, using biomass materials from Maguindanao’s oil palm farms.

Mangudadatu said Duterte wanted to see for himself how the plant operates so it can be replicated across the country.

Before Duterte’s visit, Mangudadatu ordered drug test among provincial government workers. About 400 of the 800 civil servants were tested, 18 of whom were found to be positive of using shabu. RAM