Lamitan execs seek to put up Army camp on donated land

LAMITAN CITY, Philippines - Local officials will petition President Rodrigo Duterte to put up an Army division camp on a land the city government is ready to donate.

This city, which has 45 barangays, is the new capital of Basilan, a component province of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Lamitan City Mayor Rose Furigay, chairperson of the city peace and order council, on Saturday said establishing an Army division base at the border of Barangay’s Bulanting and Maganda here will improve the confidence of foreign and local investors on the local business atmosphere.

Records obtained from the mayor and the city council indicated a continuing upswing in the local economy in the past five years.

Local officials and barangay leaders attribute the feat to the massive implementation of costly infrastructure projects by the executive department of ARMM during the period.

ARMM Gov Mujiv Hataman and the regional government’s public works department had constructed dozens of farm to market roads interconnecting local peasant enclaves in the past five years, several seaports and market buildings.

The ARMM government is also presently expanding the wharf in Lamitan City to attract local and foreign investors.

The projects of the Hataman administration in Basilan are being handled jointly by engineers Don Loong and Soler Undug, secretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways-ARMM and chief of the Basilan District Engineering Office, respectively.  

There have been recurring hostilities in the province involving Abu Sayyaf bandits and the military, but all are happening in municipalities far away from Lamitan City.

“There were nine bombings in the city in the past six months, all perpetrated by outsiders,” said Vice Mayor Roderick Furigay, presiding chairperson of the city council.

The vice mayor said the bombings were pulled off by bombers trained in fabrication of improvised explosive devices.

He said the attacks were obviously meant to divert the attention of Army and Marine units trying to drive away Abu Sayyaf forces from the province.

“We are appealing to President Duterte to listen to us, make our dream of having an Army division camp in Lamitan City happen,” said Furigay.

He said the city council will convene on Wednesday to draft a resolution seeking Duterte’s imprimatur for the setting up of the division headquarters.

Basilan has an Army brigade camp located in its former capital, Isabela City, now under Region 9.

The facility, however, is deemed tactically insufficient to address the security problems in interior areas in the island province.

Furigay said there is a need to put up an Army division camp in Basilan to also help ensure the safety of construction workers implementing infrastructure projects of the ARMM government.

“These projects will improve the local economy, generate better livelihood opportunities for local residents and marginalize and maybe even cause the extinction of the Abu Sayyaf,” he added.

Furigay said one strong sign that Lamitan City now has a robust economy is their having availed of huge loans from the Land Bank of the Philippines for the city government’s local infrastructure thrusts.

Banks, as a policy, always count on the economic viability and capability of local government units applying for loans to pay borrowed money with corresponding interests.

The city government is presently constructing a hospital, a P50-million-worth 4,000-seater gymnasium for peace dialogues and important events, and a business center using bank loans and funds allocated by Hataman’s office.

Hataman and Lamitan City officials launched early this month the construction of a new P250-million-worth ARMM government center in Barangay Sta. Clara southeast of the city.

The project is being bankrolled by the office of Hataman.