Army, Cotabato LGU train IP barangays on defense systems

MAGPET, COTABATO – The Army’s 72nd Infantry Battalion, in collaboration with Magpet Local Government Unit and Magpet Municipal Police Station, conducted a 2-day Bagani Orientation Seminar to 46 Indigenous People (IPs) of the Ovu-Monuvo tribe as part of strengthening the Integrated Territorial Defense System (ITDS) in the former Communist TerrorIst Group (CTG)-affected barangays of the municipality on Tuesday, May 12, 2020.

The beneficiaries of the orientation seminar are the Bagani’s residing in Barangays Bagumbayan and Temporan of the aforementioned municiplaity. These 46 IPs are the first batch of Bagani’s who were given this seminar within the unit’s area of operation. Sitio Bantaan and Sitio Tungao of Barangays Bagumbayan and Temporan, respectively, will be the home of the Bagani volunteers.

The Bagani’s are very eager to defend their home against the deceptive and abusive New People’s Army (NPA) Terrorists. “Nagapasalamat mi sa 72nd IB, PNP, ug Magpet LGU sa gihatag nila nga higayon para kami nga mga Bagani maghiusa sa pagdepensa sa among yutang kabilin batok sa mga pagpangilad og pagpanghimulos sa CPP-NPA sa amoang mga ka Tribu. (We thank the 72nd IB, PNP and Magpet LGU for giving us the chance to unite and defend our ancestral land against the fraud and deceit of CPP-NPA among the tribes),” Datu Noa, a Bagani member, said.

Meanwhile, Lt. Col. Rey T Alvarado, 72IB Commanding Officer, also extended his gratitude to the IPs for their cooperation and willingness to support the 72nd IB to promote peace and development in their locality. 

“The stronger our Integrated Territorial Defenses are, the higher the chance that insurgency in the 72IB AO will come to extinction. Thus, peace and development is maintained and people will surely live peacefully,” he said. Moreover, he also thanked Magpet-LGU headed by its Mayor, Honorable Florenito T Gonzaga for his unwavering support and steadfast leadership towards peace and development of his municipality.

In addition, 18 Barangay Peace Action Teams (BPATs) members also joined the seminar. Both the Baganis and BPAT Members were thought on Safety Gun Handling, Basic First Aid and Information Collection. They were also given homemade shotguns courtesy of the municipal LGU which will serve as their defensive tools against bad elements intruding in their ancestral homes. 

In return, the 72nd IB and Magpet PNP collaborated and assured the LGU of regular monitoring and conduct of refresher seminar of the Bagani especially accounting the said armaments to avoid any untoward incidents in the future. (Content and photo reposted from Kalinaw News)