Inter-agency council for peace, security in three Sulu towns activated

COTABATO CITY (Updated Aug. 28, 2024; 10 a.m.) — Officials of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao on Tuesday vowed to support the newly-established Metro Jolo Inter-Agency Council that shall help sustain the peace and economic progress now spreading around three adjoining towns in Sulu.

Organized just last week, the Metro Jolo Inter-Agency Council covers the adjoining Jolo, Patikul and Indanan towns, now peaceful with booming commerce and trade, all touted as the new investment hubs in the island province.

BARMM’s transportation and communications minister, Paisalin Pangandaman Tago, told reporters on Tuesday that they will fully support the Metro Jolo Inter-Agency Council, whose members include the Sulu provincial office of the Bangsamoro Land Transportation Regulatory and Franchising Board (LTFRB).

Sulu, one of the six provinces in BARMM, has 19 towns, now called "peace zones" after having been cleared from presence of the Abu Sayyaf terror group via joint peace and security programs of local government units, the police and the military’s Western Mindanao Command.

Besides the BLTFRB, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications-BARMM also has provincial service centers in Sulu of the Bangsamoro Land Transportation Office, the Bangsamoro Airport Authority and the Bangsamoro Ports Authority.

“Our ministry shall support this newly-formed pro-peace, pro-development council to the best it can,” Tago said.

The Metro Jolo Inter-Agency Council, whose members include the municipal governments in Jolo, Patikul and Indanan, the police units in all three towns and the Army’s 1103rd Infantry Brigade, has three task groups to focus on domestic security, public safety and welfare and waste management.

Brig. Gen. Prexy Tanggawohn, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, on Tuesday said that he has directed officials of the Sulu Provincial Police Office to help push the goals of the Metro Jolo Inter-Agency Council forward.