New ARMM police director committed to peace process

MAGUINDANAO --- The new police director of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao on Wednesday promised to sustain the peace-building programs his predecessors started in support of Malacañang’s southern Mindanao peace process.Chief Superintendent Reuben Theodore Sindac took over on Monday the directorship of the ARMM police from Chief Superintendent Agripino Javier, now the new police director of Region 10.Javier and other ARMM regional police directors who served before him supported extensively the government’s effort of addressing the Moro issue peacefully. I will do the same. I will be a peacemaker too like all of them, Sindac said Wednesday.Sindac said he will pursue domestic projects that can help sustain cordiality between the government and the Moro communities in the autonomous region.The ARMM covers the provinces of Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, both in mainland Mindanao, and the islands of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, all common bastions of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Moro National Liberation Front. I am also for lasting peace in this part of the country. I want my Muslim, Christian and Lumad compatriots in the ARMM to thrive in peace and reap the fruits of tranquility and religious solidarity like economic boom and better livelihood opportunities, Sindac said.Sindac was the director for logistics and support service of the Philippine National Police prior to his assumption on Monday as the new director of the Regional Police Office-ARMM.The main headquarters of PRO-ARMM is located in Camp S.K. Pendatun in the seaside Parang town in the first district of Maguindanao.Sindac started as an Army lieutenant after graduating from the Philippine Military Academy in 1984.He joined the PNP in 1991 as a chief inspector after serving in the Army for seven years.Senior Supt. Rudelio Jocson, PRO-ARMM’s assistant director for administration, said Sindac will preside over more than a dozen meetings with leaders of different sectors and officials of various peace advocacy groups in the next three weeks to plan out common peace-building activities. He shall also meet with senior leaders of the MILF for coordination dialogues related to our law enforcement activities in areas where there are government-recognized MILF strongholds, Jocson said.There is an existing ceasefire accord crafted by the government and the MILF in July 1997 binding the rebel group, the PNP and the Armed Forces to mutually cooperate in addressing peace and security issues that can derail the southern peace process.The interim truce also enjoins the MILF and the government to help each other neutralize criminal gangs and terrorists operating in potential conflict flashpoint areas.Sindac is also scheduled to initiate a courtesy visit to the headquarters in Cotabato City of the Malaysian-led International Monitoring Team.The team is helping oversee since late 2003 the enforcement of the government-MILF 1997 ceasefire pact.The multinational peacekeeping contingent is comprised of soldiers and policemen from Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia and non-uniformed conflict resolution experts from Norway and Japan.