Arroyo retains panel for Mindanao rehab

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo announced yesterday that she will retain the Mindanao Coordinating Council (MCC), which ousted President Joseph Estrada created to oversee the rehabilitation and development of war-torn areas in the island.

Mrs. Arroyo added that she will also retain the Presidential Executive Task Force for the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction of Central Mindanao, which Estrada also formed.

"I hesitate to dismantle an old structure to put up a new structure again," she told local government and military officials at Camp Evangelista in Cagayan de Oro City yesterday, her first visit to Mindanao since assuming the presidency.

Mrs. Arroyo, who used to co-chair the MCC as social welfare secretary, said she finds the council an effective mechanism to carry out the rehabilitation of war-torn areas in Mindanao on a more permanent basis rather than on an ad hoc arrangement.

Mrs. Arroyo was accompanied by Vice President Teofisto Guingona, Senate President Aquilino Pimentel Jr., Misamis Oriental Rep. Oscar Moreno and some members of her Cabinet.

They received rousing cheers from a huge crowd who attended a dialogue at the West Central School in Cagayan de Oro. — Marichu Villanueva, Lino de la Cruz