2 C. Mindanao govs get support for iron-fisted stand vs MILF

COTABATO CITY — Majority of Central Mindanao’s religious and political leaders are keen on voting for two iron-fisted governors in the region, convinced that the duo’s hardline stand in dealing with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front will deny the MILF the chance to rebuild its military camps in their respective provinces.

The two governors, Emmanuel Piñol of North Cotabato and Datu Andal Ampatuan of Maguindanao, both known for their "eye-for-an-eye, tooth-for-a-tooth" policy in fighting lawless elements, are both seeking re-election as administration candidates.

But while Piñol has been rude in relating with secessionist forces in his province, particularly those engaged in extortion and kidnapping, his administration has been exceptionally active in implementing socio-economic programs in impoverished communities in former MILF enclaves.

Last month, the provincial government donated 22 brand-new tractors imported from Europe, to village leaders, among them MILF members, in farming communities around the Buliok complex in Pikit, North Cotabato, as part of its peace and development program.

At the backdrop of these humanitarian programs, however, is the unrelenting campaign of the provincial government in fighting rebel forces and local gangs identified with the Pentagon kidnap-for-ransom syndicate.

Since 1998, police have arrested a total of 176 wanted persons, among them rogue Moro rebel commanders and foreign-trained bombers who, despite warrants for their arrests, had freely roamed around the province before Piñol was elected governor.

Ampatuan, for his part, has continued to extend support to the police and military’s pacification thrusts in his province.

Officials of the Army’s 604th Infantry Brigade and the 6th Infantry Division readily acknowledge Ampatuan’s role in the liberation from MILF occupation of guerrilla camps established in the second district of Maguindanao after the fall of Camp Abubakar in 2000.

In the past two years, the provincial engineering office has built more than a hundred kilometers of farm-to-market roads crisscrossing former guerrilla enclaves in remote parts of the province.

"For as long as Governors Piñol and Ampatuan are there, never can the MILF rise again in their provinces, as a potent force that could easily threaten security. The threats may remain but there are forces ready to help in addressing these threats," an imam, who asked not to be identified, told The STAR.

Ampatuan is hostile toward the MILF, having lost a son, Saudi, mayor of Datu Piang town, in a bomb attack reportedly perpetrated by the MILF’s Commander Rambo, more than a year ago.

The 61-year-old Ampatuan, elected Ma-guindanao governor in 2001, has survived three ambuscades.

Piñol himself survived a slay attempt last year when suspected secessionist rebels tried to bomb a radio station in Kidapawan City where he was to host his radio program "Pareng Gov."