BARMM, PNP top officials meet, commit to strengthen peace and order in Mindanao
Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, chief minister of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), visited top officials of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and discussed areas of cooperation to further improve the security situation in Mindanao.
PNP chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda, Jr. said the visit was part of the BARMM’s officials commitment to the peace and order in the region amid the recent incident in Muslim when a policeman was wounded and several cops and soldiers were wounded in a clash with former vice mayor of Maimbung town.
“It was an official visit and at the same time to renew commitment in the path of peace especially in the BARMM area. We in the PNP recognized all the mechanisms that are in place as far as the peace and order situation in the area is concerned,” said Acorda.
“We also renewed our cooperation and active coordination. The real purpose for this is the de-escalation of hostilities in Mindanao and if possible, if we can put up some developments there without necessarily the cost of lives andother hostilities in the area,” he added.
The service of arrest warrants against Pando Mudjasan led to a fierce gun battle and also resulted in more than 6,000 local residents being forced to flee their homes.
The incident became the subject of the complaint of the BARMM for lack of coordination.
Mudjasan is still at large and the PNP is now coordinating with the BARMM officials for the conduct of pursuit operations.
For his part, Ebrahim said the visit is aimed at strengthening cooperation in terms of peace and order.
“We are committed to this aspect and we assure the PNP and the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) that we will try to do our best to maintain peace and order in the BARMM area,” he said.
“We all know that in the past years BARMM has been very unstable. But now, gradually we are now returning to normal. We are assuring the PNP that we will help in the implementation of the peace and order situation in the area,” he added.
The BARMM was established after the government finally forged a peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) after years of fighting.
The PNP has allocated 400 slots for former MILF and Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) members in the Police Regional Office-BAR.