Basilan's new provincial government center up and ready

COTABATO CITY --- Personnel of the Basilan provincial government will soon transfer to a new capitol where there is a venue for cross-section dialogues needed to sustain the peace now in the province.

The new two-storey provincial government center is on a wide patch of land along a stretch of the Isabela-Lamitan Highway in Barangay Santa Clara, Lamitan City.

Gov. Jim Salliman led Thursday the inspection of the surroundings of the provincial capitol and the building where they are to hold office.

He said the new provincial government center is located in a quiet place, virtually conducive to office works.

The new capitol complex is a flagship project of the now defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, while yet under then Regional Governor Mujiv Hataman.

The 29-year ARMM was replaced with a Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in February 2019, a product of 22 years of peace talks between the national government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Salliman said Friday they are ready to host in the new capitol complex any multi-sector dialogue complementing the peace overture of President Rodrigo Duterte with southern Muslim and Christian communities.    

“We are ready to have here any activity that can help boost Malacañang’s southern Mindanao peace process,” Salliman said in a statement.

The construction of the new provincial capitol was done by Hataman, now Basilan congressman and House deputy speaker, through the office of the former district engineer in the province, Soler Undug.

The old capitol of Basilan is located in Isabela City, an old seaport hub in the island province.

The now second-termer Salliman said their new capitol shall be a showcase of how Basilan has risen from armed conflicts that raged for decades until he first got to the helm of the provincial government via an election in 2016.

“This facility shall become a strong icon of peace,” Salliman said.