Soldiers donate blood in Maguindanao

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines - Many of them were wounded painfully in action but Thursday’s bloody ordeal was different, something they are ready to do again so that lives on the line and in pain with their plasma they can help regain.

Close to 200 members of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division (ID), led by Major Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr., donated blood during a bloodletting activity at their hospital in Camp Siongco in Datu Odin town on Thursday as a kickoff event for the week-long commemoration of 6th ID’s founding anniversary this month.

Galvez and his deputy, Brig. Gen. Felimon Santos, were the first to submit for plasma extraction by experts, in the presence of their subordinates, among them enlisted soldiers, who saw action in many engagements with enemy forces in central Mindanao in years past.

Galvez said the activity was just one of the humanitarian projects they have lined up for the next six months, diplomatic maneuvers meant to sustain the fragile peace now spreading around the 6th ID’s area of responsibility (AOR).

The AOR of 6th ID covers the cities of Cotabato and Tacurong, and the provinces of Maguindanao, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and several towns in Lanao del Sur.

Some of the soldiers who donated blood on Thursday are Muslims, who are actively involved in current peace-building projects of 6th ID in Maguindanao, a known bastion of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Galvez said they are also keen on embarking diplomatic engagements with local MILF commanders to complement the cordiality of Malacañang’s peace overture with the group.

There has not been a single Army-MILF encounter in the provinces under 6th ID since late 2010, a feat peace advocacy groups attribute to the religious compliance by both sides with the interim ceasefire accord crafted in July 1997 by government and rebel negotiators.

Galvez had served as chairman of the government’s Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities, which deals with a counterpart panel in the MILF, prior to his assumption last September 12 as commander of 6th ID.