Westmincom chief to be feted

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines - The personnel of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division will conduct Wednesday afternoon an “honor parade” for their former commander, Lt. Gen. Rey Ardo, in recognition of his activities complementing Malacañang's peace efforts with local Moro sectors.

Ardo, incumbent chief of the Armed Forces’ Western Mindanao Command based in Zamboanga City, had served as 6th ID’s commanding general from late 2010 to 2012.

Major Gen. Romeo Gapuz, commander of 6th ID, will lead the honor ceremony for Ardo, according to the division’s spokesman, Col. Dickson Hermoso.

No encounter has taken place between forces of the 6th ID and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in Central Mindanao in the past two years, a feat which local folks attribute to the division and the MILF’s strict compliance with the 1997 Agreement on General Cessation of Hostilities.

The 6th ID, which was originally under the Eastern Mindanao Command, was placed under the Westmincom’s tactical and administrative control about a year ago for a better implementation of the ceasefire pact, which is also being imposed in certain areas in the Zamboanga peninsula, and the island provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

The three island provinces are inside the territories covered by the Westmincom. Maguindanao and the second district of Lanao del Sur, the main bastions of the MILF in Central Mindanao, are now also under Westmincom.

Ardo, while 6th ID commander, was active in various peace-building projects that  hastened the recovery in flashpoint areas in Central Mindanao, where the MILF has about 50 enclaves, including its main stronghold, Camp Darapanan, in Sultan Kudarat town in the first district of Maguindanao.

Ardo, while 6th ID’s commander, even reached out to members of Central Mindanao’s secular Darul Iftah, also known as Islamic House of Opinions, by visiting them at their houses during the 2012 Ramadhan fasting season, as part of the 6th ID’s confidence-building measures with Muslim religious communities.  - John Unson