New army commander vows to uphold Bangsamoro peace process

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines - The new commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division (ID)- whose  territory covers bastions of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)- promised to uphold the tenets of the peace process in carrying out the unit’s security missions.

Brig. Gen. Edmund Pangilinan, who graduated from the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) in 1983, assumed on Monday as commander of 6th ID, replacing Major Gen. Romeo Gapuz, who was division commander for almost two years.

Gapuz, a member of the PMA’s Class ’81, officially retired on Monday from the military service, after serving as Army officer for more than three decades.

Gapuz relinquished his post to Pangilinan, in a symbolic rite at Camp Siongco in Datu Odin Sinsuat town, in the presence of local officials led by Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu and Philippine Army chief Lt. Gen. Hernando Iriberri.

Gapuz, who became popular for his backchannel peace dialogues with the MILF, said he is sure Pangilinan will continue the diplomatic programs he started while commander of the 6th ID, meant to help boost the goodwill between the government and the rebel group.

There has never been any single Army-MILF encounter in the territory of 6th ID since 2009.

Pangilinan, in a message during the turnover rite, said he will see to it that organic units of the 6th ID and other military organizations under its tactical control will all religiously adhere to the 1997 Agreement on General Cessation of Hostilities between the government and the MILF.

The 6th ID has jurisdiction over major MILF enclaves in Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat and North Cotabato, known bastions of the rebel group, which signed a final peace deal with government, the Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro, on March 27, 2014.

“I will uphold the primacy of the peace process in managing the security functions of the 6th ID,” Pangilinan said.

Iriberri was accompanied to Camp Siongco for the event by his subordinate officers, among them the spokesman of the Philippine Army Headquarters, Lt. Col. Noel Detoyato.

The turnover program, held at the grandstand of Camp Siongco, was also attended by representatives of the MILF, and  the joint Coordinating Committee of the Cessation of Hostilities, which is comprised of combined representatives of the rebel group, the Armed Forces and the Philippine National Police.

Pangilinan said he would also focus on programs that can hasten the reconciliation of feuding clans in the 6th ID’s area of coverage.