SGA peace, development efforts tackled in forum

COTABATO CITY - Stakeholders agreed in a dialogue Tuesday to cooperate in working for peace and development in 63 Bangsamoro barangays in Cotabato province, 22 of which are in the troubled Pikit town.

Participants assured of their support to the governance initiatives of the Bangsamoro government in the 63 barangays.

The 63 barangays, located in different towns in Cotabato, which is under Administrative Region 12, are grouped as the Special Geographic Area (SGA) of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Representatives from different sectors, the Army’s 6^th Infantry Division, the police, and three members of the 80-seat BARMM parliament --- Kadil Sinolinding, Abdullah Hashim and Kelly Antao --- took turns explaining during the forum the need for cross-section cooperation in maintaining law and order in the SGA for sustainable development to set in.

The forum was organized by the foreign-assisted Institute for Autonomy and Governance (IAG), involved in various programs meant to foster unity among Muslims, Christians and indigenous communities in support of the Mindanao peace process. It was supported by members of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate congregation.

The forum focused on peace and security issues besetting the SGA and the need for cohesion among local sectors, the police, the military and local executives in preventing crimes and conflicts among clans, to ensure the socio-economic growth of the 63 barangays it covers.

Sinolinding said, during the forum, that he favors the creation of municipalities that would group the 63 barangays for new LGUs to exist and run the show.

The peace and security problems besetting the municipality of Pikit was also discussed in the forum. 

The SGA has 22 barangays in Pikit, which has more than 40 barangays.

More than 30 people had been killed in a series of gun attacks in Pikit in the past 24 months. 

Two officials of 6^th ID, Brig. Eduardo Gubat and Col. Donald Gumiran, separately said the police and the military cannot succeed in jointly addressing the nagging security challenges in Pikit without public support.

Pikit has been hitting the news for two years now due to the unending killings in the area that have all remained unsolved. 

Nasser Gayagay, who represented Pikit’s LGU in the forum, said their mayor, Sumulong Sultan, is doing his best to put a stop to the wanton atrocities happening mostly in SGA barangays. 

Among the speakers who provided inputs on the deeper intricacies of the bloody incidents in Pikit and recommended possible solutions were Oblate priest Romeo Saniel and Elizabeth Laurico of the Balay Mindanao, a peace-advocacy entity.