Peace-builder Army general is new 6th ID commander

MAGUINDANAO --- The outgoing commander of the Army’s 6^th Infantry Division relinquished his post Monday to a general well-versed in conflict-resolution in communities with interfaith and cross-cultural settings.

Major Gen. Juvymax Uy took over from Lt. Gen. Diosdado Carreon, now retired, via a traditional turnover rite at Camp Siongco in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao.

The event was presided over by Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, commanding general of the Philippine Army.

Uy belongs  to the Class 1989 of the Philippine Military Academy and was assistant division commander of 6^th ID while Sobejana was at its helm from 2017 to early 2019.

Uy, of Ilonggo descent, had extensive involvement in the Army’s pacification campaigns in Southern Philippine regions.

While brigade commander in Basilan about years ago, Uy, Gov. Jim Salliman, and the then regional governor of the now defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Mujiv Hataman, together designed a peace program that led to the surrender of more than 200 Abu Sayyaf gunmen from different towns in the island province. 

The Abu Sayyaf bandits who have availed of the peace program are now being reintroduced into mainstream society via interventions by the Salliman administration and the office of Hataman, who is now Basilan’s congressional representative and a House deputy speaker. 

In an emotional message, Carreon,  Sobejana’s classmate in the PMA, said he is grateful to all sectors in central Mindanao for supporting his leadership of the 6^th ID.

The 6^th ID covers South Cotabato, Sarangani, Sultan Kudarat and parts of North Cotabato and Lanao del Sur provinces and the cities of Koronadal, Tacurong and Cotabato.

Uy said he will emulate how Carreon complemented the diplomatic overtures of President Rodrigo Duterte with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Moro National Liberation Front that have separate peace compacts with the national government.

“Leading the 6^th ID is a big challenge. I will do my best to deliver what is expected of me with the help of all stakeholders and sectors continuously helping maintain law and order in the areas under the division,” Uy told reporters.

He said he will also adopt Carreon’s examples in having convinced a big number of Dawlah Islamiya members in central Mindanao to bolt from the group.

The Dawlah Islamiya, also known as the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, operates in the fashion of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria,tagged in all terror attacks, including deadly bombings in central Mindanao since 2014.