New 6th ID commanding general is a peace advocate

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao — A peace activist on Monday assumed leadership of the Army's 6th Infantry Division from a predecessor, who was known to have contributed to peace efforts in Central Mindanao.
Brig. Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr., former chairman of the government's Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH), took over from Major Gen. Edmundo Pangilinan, now vice commander of the Philippine Army.The government's CCCH works with a counterpart in the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in addressing security problems in areas covered by the July 1997 Agreement on General Cessation of Hostilities between the secessionist group and Malacañang.Pangilinan was the deputy commander for the Mindanao peace process of the Southern Mindanao Command in Zamboanga City prior to his assumption as 6th ID commander two years ago.Galvez, while chairman of CCCH, participated in most major dialogues between the government and the MILF and facilitated, along with his counterparts in the rebel group, the amicable resolution of peace and security issues in flashpoint areas in Central Mindanao. I will continue the peace efforts of Gen. Pangilinan and even complement them with more peace programs to keep the peace we have in the 6th ID's area of responsibility, Galvez said.A member of the MILF's reclusive central committee, Toks Ebrahim, and officials of their CCCH, surprisingly attended Monday's symbolic transition rite for the 6th ID's leadership from Pangilinan to Galvez, who each graduated from the Philippine Military Academy in 1983 and 1985, respectively.The event was witnessed by Lt. Gen. Eduardo Año, commander of the Philippine Army, Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu and his constituent-local executives from the 36 towns in the province, and Kirby Abdullah, who is local government secretary of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.Also present at the turnover ceremony were Cotabato City Vice Mayor Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi and representatives from the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process and the MILF-led Bangsamoro Transition Commission. It was held at the parade ground of Camp Siongco in Datu Odin Sinsuat town in Maguindanao.Mangudadatu told reporters after the event he will ask Galvez to personally attend the periodic meetings of the inter-agency, multi-sectoral Maguindanao provincial peace and order council.The Maguindanao PPOC has current programs complementing Malacañang's peace efforts with the MILF.

We will immediately make Gen. Galvez a regular, voting member of the PPOC and request him to attend personally all of its meetings, Mangudadatu said.The MILF has more than 20 government-recognized camps, now dubbed peace zones, in Maguindanao.

Mangudadatu, presiding chairman of the Maguindanao PPOC, said he was elated seeing Galvez as the new 6th ID's commanding general.The 6th ID has jurisdiction over Central Mindanao's Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, North Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat provinces and the cities of Tacurong and Cotabato, where there are MILF forces, bivouac areas of the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and where militias of political warlords create trouble during election periods. We need a peace advocate like him at the helm of 6th ID, someone who understands the Moro cultures and the peculiarity of the political and socio-economic landscapes in Central Mindanao, Mangudadatu said.