President’s visit to Basilan encourages business groups
COTABATO CITY — Business groups said on Sunday that President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s visit in Basilan, a former bastion of the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group, provides the province a much needed boost to encourage trade in the area.
On Saturday, the President was in Barangay Mahatallang in Sumusip, Basilan to witness the destruction of 550 unlicensed firearms seized in the province.
“That was something so good for our efforts to entice investors from other regions in the country and from abroad to come to Basilan. That showed that peace, indeed, is spreading around Basilan now,” Mohammad Omar Pasigan, chairman of the Bangsamoro Board of Investments (BBOI), told reporters here on Sunday.
The disposal of the firearms culminated the campaign called the Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) Management Program, which seeks to rid the six provinces and three cities of the Bangsamoro region of loose firearms previously used in rebellion and outlawed activities.
“The destruction of hundreds of unlicensed firearms in a former stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf, in the presence of President Marcos, is a good development, something so inspiring for us,” Clarito B. San Juan, a senior member of the Lamitan City Business Chamber in Basilan, said.
Accompanying Mr. Marcos in Sumisip were Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity Carlito G. Galvez, Jr., Special Assistant to the President Ernesto F. Lagdemeo, Defense Secretary Gilbert C. Teodoro, Chief Minister Ahod B. Ebrahim of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and senior officials of the Armed Forces and the Philippine National Police.
Mr. Teodoro and Mr. Galvez are both staunch supporters of the SALW campaign that the office of Basilan Gov. Hadjiman Hataman Salliman, Brig. Gen. Allan V. Luzon of the Army’s 101st Infantry Brigade, the Basilan Provincial Police Office and the League of Mayors in the province launched last year. – John Felix M. Unson
