COTABATO CITY – Business blocs struggling to make Maguindanao del Norte attractive to foreign investors said on Monday that Colombian Ambassador Marcela F. Ordoñez’s visit to Camp Iranun — once known as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s stronghold Camp Abubakar — has sparked enthusiasm.
They said her visit last Thursday to the camp, now under state control, symbolizes the Bangsamoro region’s shift from conflict to governance and sends a message to investors abroad that it is now safe to put up agricultural projects in the surrounding hinterlands.
During her visit, Ms. Ordoñez engaged in dialogues with the Philippine Navy’s 1st Marine Brigade on cooperation for integrating former Moro combatants into mainstream society. The collaborative project with the Embassy of Colombia, tagged as “Strengthening Institutional Capacities in Reincorporation and Normalization,” draws from Colombia’s successful experience in resolving decades-long rebellions.
The visit’s impact on Maguindanao del Norte’s business climate was hailed by regional officials, including Local Government Minister Naguib G. Sinarimbo and Bangsamoro Regional Board of Investments Chairman Mohammad O. Pasigan, who expressed optimism for positive outcomes in line with the Mindanao peace process.
“We are thankful to Colombian Ambassador Marcela Ordoñez for visiting Cotabato City and the brigade headquarters of the Marines for an activity good for the Mindanao peace process,” Minister Sinarimbo, also Bangsamoro regional government spokesman, told BusinessWorld on Monday.
Meanwhile, lawyer-entrepreneur Ronald Hallid D. Torres, who heads the Bangsamoro Business Council, said the ambassador’s visit can highlight the investment potential in Iranun-dominated areas.
He also stressed the camp’s historical significance, noting that Ahod B. Ebrahim, once an MILF rebel leader at Camp Abubakar, now serves as the appointed chief minister of the Bangsamoro
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. — John Felix M. Unson