Police to complement Basilan interfaith peace efforts

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — The Bangsamoro regional police directed on Saturday its units in Basilan to support the peace efforts of Muslim clerics and their provincial government that both sides reaffirmed this week.

Brig. Gen. Eden Ugale, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, said Saturday the consensus reached during a meeting Thursday by Muslim preachers and Gov. Jim Salliman to expand their bilateral peace programs complement PRO-BAR’s security programs in the island province.  

“Their efforts are good and we in PRO-BAR will extend support to them on that regard,” Ugale said.

Muslim preachers and Salliman, chairperson of the provincial peace and order council, held on Thursday a dialogue at the provincial capitol and agreed to continue cooperating on programs sustaining the peace now spreading through all four corners of the island province.

Salliman’s administration has various programs attuned to the peace and development initiatives of the regional government of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Basilan’s Islamic religious leaders are also close to their counterparts in the Catholic and other Christian religious groups in the province.

Muslim and Christian preachers in Basilan initiate periodic dialogues facilitated by the office of their provincial governor.

In their dialogue Thursday, Salliman expressed gratitude to his constituent-Muslim clerics for helping maintain peace and order in the province via religious interventions.

“Interfaith dialogues are so essential to our security missions in areas in BARMM where there are mixed Muslim and Christian residents,” Ugale said.