By Divina Suson with reports from Nef Luczon/PNA
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — The Police Regional Office in Region 10 (PRO-10) said it will deploy a total of 2,000 cops to beef up security during the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) plebiscite on February 6 in Lanao del Norte.
Police Supt. Surki Sereñas, PRO-10 spokesman, said on Monday at least a thousand of the police personnel will come from Region 10 while the other half will be provided by other Philippine National Police (PNP) regional headquarters — Central Visayas and Caraga Regions.
Sereñas said the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has also deployed its own personnel to Lanao del Norte.
“Aside from AFP and PNP, the AHJAG CCCH will also establish command centers in the area,” the police official said, referring to Ad Hoc Joint Action Group and the Coordinating Committee on Cessation of Hostilities consisting of government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s (MILF) forces.
Salahoden Benhamza, legal counsel of MILF-North Western Mindanao Front, said the February 6 plebiscite reflects their “burning desire for peace to take root in our land.
During a media forum over the weekend here, Benhamza said they have “high hopes that BOL will signal the dawn of peace in our communities and provide a solid foundation for empowerment and economic advancement.”
Some 300,000 registered voters in Lanao del Norte, except Iligan City, are expected to participate in the February 6 plebiscite to determine if they want to include six of the province’s municipalities — Baloi, Pantar, Tagoloan, Munai, Tangkal, and Nunungan — in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
The six municipalities also voted for the inclusion in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao during the 2010 plebiscite.
The leaders of the provincial government, led by Governor Imelda Dimaporo, have repeatedly made clear that they oppose the inclusion of the six towns into the new Moro autonomous region.
On Sunday, Gov. Dimaporo released a statement saying “the issue in Lanao del Norte is not about the ratification of the BOL. It is about the inclusion of the six municipalities that help protect and preserve the peace and order in the province and in sustaining the harmonious relationship between Muslim and Christian residents here in our beloved province.
Rep. Khalid Dimaporo, the governor’s son, insisted they support the BOL but oppose the division of the province.
Without naming names, MILF and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) — another Moro secessionist group that earlier signed a peace pact with the government, warned that “dynastic forces are out to thwart the realization of peace gains by frustrating the inclusion of the six towns into the BARMM.”
“Through sheer repression and oppression strategies, these forces are trying to stir rejection of the BOL in a bid to preserve their political bailiwick. While we respect their opinion and stand on the BOL, their methods are very suspicious, seemingly hiding a dark plot,” a joint MILF-MNLF statement released last week said.
Both groups are campaigning for the inclusion of the six towns into the BARMM.
