39th IB, Cotabato provincial government build peace pavilion

COTABATO CITY — Army officials and local executives on Saturday inaugurated a mini pavilion inside an Army camp in Makilala, Cotabato that they shall use as a venue for cross-section peace dialogues and other vital community engagements.

Lt. Gen. Roy Galido, commander of the Philippine Army, told reporters in Central Mindanao in a text message on Sunday that he is grateful to the provincial government of Cotabato for helping officials of the 39th Infantry Battalion construct the facility in the vicinity of their headquarters post in Barangay Poblacion in Makilala.

The commanding officer of the 39th IB, Lt. Col. Anthony Fer Solano, said the office of Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza provided them with P425,646 worth of materials for the project.

Mendoza was guest of honor in Saturday’s inauguration of the newly-built mini pavilion.

Galido was represented in the event by Major Gen. Potenciano Camba, the chief-of-staff of the Philippine Army.

“We are grateful to the Cotabato provincial government for helping put up that structure,” Galido said.

Galido said Mendoza and the mayors of Makilala and nearby towns together cooperated, along with the 39th IB, in peacebuilding programs that cleared totally, in recent years, from the presence of the New People’s Army a number of barangays in hinterland areas in Cotabato province.