Joint Army-ARMM Mamasapano mosque project done

MAMASAPANO, Maguindanao - Army engineers will turn over Tuesday to villagers in Barangay Tukanalipao here the mosque built for them by soldiers using funds from Gov. Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.The construction of the mosque by unarmed members of the engineering units of the 6thInfantry Division and the 601stBrigade is part of Hataman’s initial P70 million socio-economic and diplomatic interventions meant to hasten the restoration of normalcy in this conflict-wracked municipality.The projects were launched more than two months ago following the deadly January 25 Mamasapano incident,” which shook the nation to its core and challenged the on-going bilateral peace initiatives of Malacañang and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.Engineer James Mlok, chief of Maguindanao’s 2ndDistrict Engineering Office, said all of the current infrastructure projects in Barangay Tukanalipao west of Mamasapano are going on smoothly owing to the cooperation of local folks.Among the projects being jointly supervised by Mlok and the ARMM’s newly-installed public works secretary, the ethnic Tausug engineer Don Loong, is the P17 million worth concrete footbridge connecting both sides of a river straddling through Barangay Tukanalipao.The project is just meters away from the iconic wooden footbridge near the spot where policemen and MILF guerillas clashed for some 10 hours on January 25.Mlok said Loong and Hataman have both been monitoring closely the implementation of all new infrastructure projects in Mamasapano.The office of Mlok has also been constructing a farm-to-market road that would link the footbridge to the center of Barangay Tukanalipao. So far so good,” Mlok said Monday, referring to the implementation of the projects.Mamasapano hogged the headlines when members of the police’s Special Action Force and armed men clashed in three barangays west of the town last January 25.The SAF commandos were moving out of Barangay Pidsandawan in Mamasapano after having killed in a dawn raid there Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, most known as Marwan, when they figured in firefights with local MILF guerillas and a second group, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.At least 44 policemen, 17 MILF members and five innocent civilians perished in the ensuing encounters.Major Gen. Edmundo Pangilinan, commander of 6thID, said he is thankful to the community elders and religious leaders in Barangay Tukanalipao for helping secure the soldiers that constructed the ARMM-funded mosque. The Mosque will be opened in time for the start of the Islamic Ramadhan season this week,” Pangilinan said.Ramadhan is a holy month in Islam, where Muslims fast from dawn to dusk for one lunar cycle, about 28-29 days, as a religious obligation.