If Malaysia has Sipadan, the Philippines has Sulu for excellent diving and exotic beaches.
But this must-see tourist destination has yet to be explored by local and foreign tourists because of security concerns.
Task Force Thunder and Western Mindanao Command deputy chief Brig. Gen. Juancho Saban said once the security threat in the area has been resolved, Sulu has more to offer to local and foreign tourists than Sipadan.
Saban said tourists can go surfing, diving, or simply swim in the blue waters of Sulu.
In preparation for this, marine soldiers have put up one tourist stop, called Buhanginan Beach and Adventure Resort, in Patikul.
The beach resort is within the perimeter of the Marine Battalion Landing Team-5 (MBLT-5) headquarters.
The national government, through the Armed Forces of the Philippines, has also strengthened its development projects in Sulu simultaneous with its intensified campaign against the Abu Sayyaf believed to be hiding here.
The AFP will send to the province within the week two battalions of Army engineers to construct farm to market roads and repair damaged government infrastructure such as school buildings, roads and bridges.
AFP chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said that once these development projects are completed, commerce will flourish in the province and the Abu Sayyaf and other lawless elements will no longer have the support of the local residents.
Aside from Sulu, Esperon said the military intends to fast-track development of road networks in Basilan, particularly the completion of the circumferential road.
“Once this circumferential road is completed, Basilan would be the next Bohol,” Esperon said, referring to the now lively Eastern Visayas province.
Esperon was in Bohol for the past two days for the peace assembly headed by President Arroyo.
He said the Visayan province used to be a chaotic place because of the heavy presence of communist insurgents and other lawless elements.
But then President Fidel Ramos stepped in to address the insurgency problem.
Ramos went full blast in the construction of the circumferential highway and other major road networks, paving the way for progress in the province, he said.
“If we imagine Bohol in 1997, they did not have the circumferential road yet. I remember that because I secured President Ramos in a lot of his trips when we started going full blast in the construction of road networks in Bohol,” said Esperon, who was then chief of Ramos’ Presidential Security Group.
Esperon said Bohol is now practically free from communist influence, as he pointed out the upsurge in business activities and increase in arrivals of foreign tourists.
“So a circumferential road is very important not only in Bohol. It will work out very well in Basilan,” he said.
A battalion of Army engineers will also be deployed to Basilan within the week to help complete the circumferential highway, cementing and asphalting some 60 to 70 kilometers around the province in coordination with local executives.