Summit unites Maguindanao leaders and authorities against terrorists and criminals

MAGUINDANAO --- Local leaders and senior security officials on Saturday forged a covenant to cooperate in preventing the spread of misguided Islamic militants in Maguindanao province.The event capped off a summit against terrorism and lawlessness at the public gymnasium in Guindulungan town in Maguindanao.The five-hour activity was organized by Guindulungan Mayor Midpantao Midtimbang, Jr., the Army’s 603rdBrigade, the 6thInfantry Division and the Police Regional Office-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.Gen. Arnel Dela Vega of 6thID said the summit was meant to pool the efforts of local leaders, the police, the military and leaders of the local communities in addressing religious extremism, trafficking of narcotics and other security issues affecting the local economy.Foreign-trained Islamic theologianAbuhuraira Udasan, who is ARMM’s grand mufti (cleric), lectured on the correct interpretation of teachings in the Qur’an on respect for life and non-Islamic religions.He said Qur’anic teachings and the sunnah (traditions) of Islam’s key progenitor, Mohammad, are being circumvented by extremists to suit their vested interests.Congresswoman Sandra Sema of the first district of Maguindanao also talked about the importance of good governance in maintaining law and order in security-challenged communities.Two elders of the Midtimbang clan, Datu Antao and Datu Ali, also discussed the need for multi-sectoral cooperation against religious extremism.Guindulungan, located in the second district of Maguindanao, is close to towns where there is presence of the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.The BIFF is a radical Jihadist group that boasts of loyalty to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and is even using the black ISIS flag as its revolutionary banner.The group is known for its enforcement of a ruthless Taliban-style justice system in areas where it operates.Major Gen. Carlito Galvez, Jr., commander of the Western Mindanao Command, announced during last month’s ARMM regional peace and order council meeting in Cotabato City that there are now more than 50 ISIS-inspired terrorist cells in Lanao del Sur, in Maguindanao and in nearby central Mindanao provinces.Ghazali Jaafar, a senior member of the central committee of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and presiding chairman of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission, was also present in the summit.The commission, comprised of representatives from the MILF, the Moro National Liberation Front and the national government, aims to craft a legislative measure needed in replacing the ARMM with a more politically and administratively empowered Bangsamoro regional government.The creation of the Bangsamoro entity is the main objective of the current Southern Mindanao peace process, meant to put closure to the now four-decade Moro secessionist uprising.The government and the MILF are bound by the 1997 Agreement on General Cessation of Hostilities to mutually cooperate in maintaining law and order in conflict flashpoint areas in Mindanao.The interim ceasefire pact also enjoins both sides to help each other neutralize criminals and terrorists in areas where there are government-recognized MILF camps.The ARMM regional police was represented in the summit by its deputy director for administration, Senior Superintendent Rodelio Jocson.Representatives from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency led by its director for ARMM, Bryan Babang, also participated in the activity, which culminated with the signing by participants of a manifesto of support to the government’s law enforcement thrusts in Maguindanao.