COTABATO (October 22, 2022) — Officials are grateful to Malacañang for appointing a new chairperson for the Regional Development Council-12 who is supportive of the Southern Philippine peace process.
In a press release posted by Mindanao Voces Media outfits here and nearby provinces received on Friday copies of the appointment of Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Mendoza as chairperson of RDC-12 ,dated October 19 signed by President Marcos Jr. Top Officials said.
Bangsamoro Labor Minister Muslim Sema ,chairman of the Moro National Front (MNLF) told the Manila Times in an interview as well as reporters saying “We want to tell the President Marcos Jr. that putting Cotabato Gov. Mendoza at the helm of RDC-12 will benefit the Mindanao peace process”. adding the MNLF and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, (MILF) , which have separate peace compacts with the national government have enclaves in Region 12 that are now better known as “peace zone” There are 63 barangays in different towns in Cotabato province grouped as the “Special Geographic Area of ” or SGA ,that are under the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. Kadil Sinolinding Jr a physician in the 80-member of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority said that the appointment of Mendoza was for him ,an “answered for his prayer .
Mendoza had also served as congressional representative of Cotabato province before she was elected as governor in 2007, and subsequently, as vice governor, for one term prior to her election as provincial chief executive during the May 9, 2022 elections.
Sema and Sinolinding have long been cooperating with the peace and security programs of Mendoza in Moro, Christian and indigenous communities in her province, which has 17 towns and covers more than 40 barangays in its capital, Kidapawan City.
Mendoza, while Cotabato vice governor, helped campaign for the ratification, via a plebiscite in early 2019, of the proposed Bangsamoro Organic Law, that was to become the regional charter of BARMM, meant to put closure to the “Moro issue” hounding the country since the 1970s.
President Marcos also appointed, along with Mendoza, Richlie Lyndon Luza Magtulis, as RDC-12 chairperson.
The RDCs in all regions function under the auspices of the National Economic Development Authority.
The president of the league of mayors in Cotabato, Mayor Jonathan Mahimpit of President Roxas, said he supported the candidacy of Mendoza for governor during the May 9 electoral exercise partly for her attachment with the non-Moro indigenous communities in the province. “Now the Moro, the Christian and the indigenous communities in Region 12 will have a voice in the RDC-12,” Mahimpit said.
Region 12 covers the provinces of Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, South Cotabato, and Sarangani, and the cities of Kidapawan, Tacurong, Koronadal and General Santos.(ASA T> MADALE)
