Security beefed up for Arroyo visit

COTABATO CITY — All’s set for today’s visit of President Arroyo to Cotabato City and Maguindanao, local officials said.

City Mayor Muslimin Sema, who chairs the Central Mindanao development council, said ample security personnel, backed up by barangay officials and civilian volunteers, have been fielded in the places which Mrs. Arroyo is visiting.

Sema said Mrs. Arroyo will inaugurate a socio-economic project for members of the Moro National Liberation Front, funded by the United States Agency for International Development, in Tamontaka district here, the scene of fierce MNLF-military clashes in the early 1970s.

The Army’s 6th Infantry Division, which has jurisdiction over Cotabato City and Maguindanao, said at least three battalions of Army soldiers and hundreds of Marines have been guarding the areas where the President is inspecting rehabilitation projects for evacuees affected by recent hostilities in the province.

Peace advocates in Central Mindanao said clamors for a bilateral ceasefire between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the government will greet Mrs. Arroyo during her visit.

The President will also meet with regional officials, led by Gov. Parouk Hussin, at the 32-hectare ARMM government center here.

Preparations are also underway for the President’s signing of an order activating the Regional Security Force. — John Unson