MANILA – President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has commended the Joint Task Force-Tawi-Tawi for helping the government attain peace in Mindanao.
In a visit to the JTF Tawi-Tawi headquarters in on Thursday afternoon, President Marcos said Tawi-Tawi is now peaceful because of all the efforts of the troops.
“Ngayon, imbes na naglalabanan, ang labanan ngayon dito pagandahan na ng resort. That is a very big achievement and the part that you played in that is a very major part,” he added.
President Marcos also said he was able to visit Mindanao because of the present peace in the region, which his predecessors did not experience due to security reasons.
“The reason is not because other presidents did not want to come here. It was because other presidents were not allowed by the security conditions that had passed before to be able to come here,” Marcos said.
The Chief Executive, however, said the military’s mission is not over and the soldiers have to transform themselves from warfighters to peacemakers as the nation marches toward development.
He added that, while the military’s primary mission is to thwart attempts to topple the government, security personnel have an obligation to advance peace by giving insurgents the opportunity to return to the fold of the law.
“Kasama na ngayon sa mission natin ay ‘yung patuloy na peace-making para bigyan natin ng pagkakataon ang mga fighters, ang mga dating fighers na magkaroon ng mas magandang buhay na hindi sila nakatago sa bundok, hindi sila laging gutom,” he said./PN
