Military Engineers Arrive In Basilan Island For Humanitarian Projects

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / 08 Sept) – Some 500 soldiers arrived Saturday in Basilan to take part on a massive government infrastructure projects aimed at winning hearts and minds of Muslims on the island, south of the Philippines where security forces are pursuing Abu Sayyaf militants.

The soldiers were part of the four army and air force engineering battalions that left Manila on Sept. 5 on orders from President Gloria Arroyo. They arrived in the town of Lamitan, where senior military and provincial government officials welcomed them in a ceremony witnessed by hundreds of locals.

The soldiers also unloaded bulldozers and other heavy equipment they will use to finish a P800 million, 165-kilometer circumferential road projects on the island stalled since 1995.

While the engineers work to finish the road projects, security forces on the other hand are pursuing more than a hundred Abu Sayyaf militants and Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels implicated in the killings of about 3 dozen soldiers since July in Basilan.

Arroyo released tens of millions of pesos for the projects and at the same time ordered the military to finish off the Abu Sayyaf before her presidency ends on 2010.

The government also began a massive developmental and humanitarian project for the island of Jolo, where local provincial officials headed by Gov. Sakur Tan have embarked on a massive program to promote tourism and investments.

On Monday, a C-130 military transport plane will fly to Jolo island with Senator Richard Gordon, former Tourism Secretary, to pick up tons of exotic fruits, such as durian and mangosteen berries and help market the produce in Manila.

Tan said the fruits would be sold to supermarkets and in agricultural trade fairs. He said aside from fruits, Jolo island is also exporting coffee beans, which is abundant in the province.

“We are now embarking on tourism promotion and investment programs in coordination with the different government agencies,” he told the Mindanao Examiner. (Mindanao Examiner)