| PGMA's Remarks during her Visit to Kabuntalan, Maguindanao |
Makeshift hut, Marshland area Kabuntalan, Maguindanao (14 August 2003) |
| I came to Kabuntalan to signify
that we must now refocus our energies on the fight against terrorism. I also came to
Mindanao to thank our soldiers here for your loyalty to the flag and the constitution. One enters the military profession knowing full well the dangers and sacrifices entailed, and I was surprised when a group of traitors withdrew their allegiance to the constitution at a time when their comrades in arms were in the thick of the fight against terrorism. You, the soldiers here, I thank you, you were not with the Magdalo group and I know you will never be. Here, we can see our soldiers doing your job quietly and without flinching, and you were not noisily crying out your problems because you know we are trying our best to reform the armed forces and to bring the benefits of the command down to the combat soldier in the field. I thank you for putting a dragnet in place for the recapture of Al-Ghozi and I hope that we have the full cooperation of the local government units and the communities -- governor, vice governor, mayor, barangay captain. We also look forward to the cooperation of the MILF under its commitments to the peace process. I want you to continue the hunt for Al-Ghozi without let up as this is vital to the fight against transnational terrorism. And to the gentlemen whom we awarded today for your achievement in capturing Edris, congratulations! And may you continue to have more successes until we get Al-Ghozi and until we win over terrorism in Mindanao and in the Philippines. Congratulations! And thank you! Oh, mayor, I have news for you, also vice governor and the barangay captain and the regional governor, a week ahead, but if I had come next week -- I called it a week ahead because I wanted to check on the operations and, you know, and encourage you on -- but if I had come next week, I would have come to inaugurate the Tabiran bridge in Kabuntalan, which will open next week and which will therefore connect Kabuntalan to Cotabato City. That is under the President's bridge program. And when this is completed next week, then Kabuntalan's isolation will be over. And i hope that peace and order will be the one to reign here rather than the kidnappers because Kabuntalan, sad to say, is known as the "kidnappers' haven." so many kidnapped victims were recovered here in kabuntalan. And with the soldiers in the process of cleaning up the place, in the process of running after Al-Ghozi, and hopefully, with the support of the community and with that bridge, that will therefore make this easier to access rather than be an enclave where you can keep people you want to keep from the law. I hope that Kabuntalan will soon, after next week, become a more peaceful place. Good luck! Ha, mayor. Okay, thank you. |