Cotabato province worship sites secured in time for holidays

COTABATO CITY — Authorities are tightly securing Christian worship sites near Pagalungan, Maguindanao where the Dawlah Islamiya attacked and plundered a barangay more than a week ago after losing 12 members in clashes with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Mayors in Cotabato and Gov. Emmylou Mendoza, units of the Police Regional Office-12 and the Army's 602nd Infantry Brigade are cooperating in securing Christian worship sites to ensure peaceful Christmas and New Year’s Day festivities in the province.

“Me and my constituent-mayors are thankful to PRO-12, the 602nd Infantry Brigade and the 6th Infantry Division for all the security measures being imposed in time for the holidays,” Mendoza, chairperson of the Cotabato Provincial Peace and Order Council said on Wednesday.

Mendoza said that the police, the military and local government units are also monitoring the surroundings of mosques owing to the tendency of terrorists to create scenarios to foment divisiveness among Muslims and Christians.

A number of towns in Cotabato are near Pagalungan in the north of Maguindanao del Sur, where Dawlah Islamiya terrorists figured in encounters with pursuing MILF members that caused the displacement of some 2,000 Moro families, now in makershift relief sites.

The Dawlah Islamiya has a reputation for venting ire on innocent people over losses in clashes with the police, the Army and the MILF that are obliged to cooperate in addressing security problems in southern towns and provinces based on the government-MILF peace compact.

Major Gen. Alex Rillera, commander of 6th ID, Wednesday said that besides the MILF, leaders of the Moro National Liberation Front, that has a separate peace accord with Malacañang, are also helping guard against possible Dawlah Islamiya incursions in any barangay in Cotabato province.

“Most importantly, we have the support of the local government units in Cotabato province and the office of the provincial governor,” Rillera said.