Military, MILF train for coordinated disaster response
COTABATO CITY, Philippines — More than 50 military officers and field leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front completed Sunday a joint exercise on coordinated response to disasters and calamities.
The two-day joint simulation exercise was held at Camp Siongco in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao, where the headquarters of the Army's 6th Infantry Division is located.
The activity, organized by the regional government of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, was meant to foster strong cooperation between the MILF and the military on the regional Incident Command System, or ICS, a framework for inter-agency response to emergencies.
Lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo, BARMM’s local government minister, said Monday they are thankful to the commander of 6th ID, Major Gen. Diosdado Carreon, for helping push the two-day joint simulation exercise forward.
The BARMM government has been, since its creation in 2019, capacitating forces of the MILF to respond to emergencies such as calamities and disasters.
The region, a product of 22 years of negotiations, was created through the Bangsamoro Organic Law and ratified in a plebiscite in 2019. BARMM covers the provinces of Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, both in mainland Mindanao and Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.
Participants to the joint simulation exercise had group drills on managing big activities related to regional governance and response to calamity and disaster incidents.
They also held workshops on public health response and on COVID-19 containment efforts.
The two-day event in Camp Siongco was assisted by the International Committee of the Red Cross and the World Health Organization, both involved in humanitarian projects in the Bangsamoro region.
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