Lamitan City launches Basilan radio station to promote peace

COTABATO CITY — There is a new non-profit radio station in Basilan propagating religious solidarity among Muslims and Christians to sustain the fragile peace in the province.

Established by the local government unit of Lamitan City and went on air only three weeks ago, the 5,000 watts 94.3 FM Station also espouses good governance and educates listeners on the importance of public cooperation in ensuring functionality of their barangay governments.

“We are supporting its operation because it is aiming to foster peace in all of the 45 barangays in Lamitan City and in municipalities around,” Brig. Gen. Alvin Luzon, commander of the Army’s 101st Infantry Brigade covering all of the two cities and 11 towns in Basilan, said Tuesday.

The mayor of Lamitan City, Roderick Furigay, had pledged during last year’s campaign period that preceded the May 2022 elections to focus on projects that can hasten the joint peace initiatives of their city government, the office of Gov. Hadjiman Salliman, the 101st Infantry Brigade and the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region that aims to maintain the markedly improving security situation in the province.

The Lamitan City government had received five Seal of Good Local Governance, the vaunted SGLG citations, from the central office of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) in the past seven years. The DILG central office does not grant SGLG to inefficient LGUs, or those whose elected officials have problems with the Ombudsman, or are either facing criminal cases, or are involved in illegal activities.

Furigay said he has instructed the manager of their radio station, Carmelito Dela Cruz, to provide the Basilan Provincial Police Office and the 101st Infantry Brigade free airtime they can use in disseminating police-community relations and civil-military peace initiatives.

Lamitan City’s newly-established 94.3 FM Station is also known as Radio Station ROSE, acronym for Reaching Out, Serving Everyone.

The police, the military and the Basilan Provincial Peace and Order Council led by the provincial governor where Furigay is a member had, along with Basilan Rep. Mujiv Hataman, secured the surrender in the past five years of 413 Abu Sayyaf members in the province, all reintegrated into mainstream society.

The Ministry of the Interior and Local Government-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao on Tuesday lauded the Lamitan City LGU for setting up a “peace radio” to promote Muslim-Christian unity.

The office of BARMM Local Government Minister Naguib Sinarimbo is presently constructing market buildings, barangay halls and police stations in Lamitan City and different towns in Basilan.

It also provided local police units with patrol vehicles as part of its security thrusts in the island province. (John Felix Unson)

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