COTABATO CITY — Local executives on Friday separately inaugurated nearly P30 million worth of infrastructure projects across four areas of Makilala town in Cotabato, intended to boost commerce and trade in a municipality now free of the New People's Army (NPA).

Radio reports on Sunday said Vice-Governor Ella Taliño-Taray led the separate inaugural rites for the projects undertaken by the office of Cotabato Governor Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza. The projects comprise road concreting in Kisante and Garsika worth P19.8 million, a drainage and flood canal in Batasan worth P3.6 million, and a flood control box culvert in Bato worth P4.9 million. The mix of road and flood-control works reflects the priorities of an agricultural municipality where the movement of farm goods and seasonal flooding both weigh on local commerce.

Major Gen. Alvin V. Luzon, commander of the Army's 10th Infantry Division (ID) based in Mawab town in Davao de Oro, said on Sunday that the four projects augur well for the joint efforts of the 10th ID, the local government unit of Makilala, and the office of Mendoza — who also serves as chairperson — in maintaining the peace now prevailing in the municipality, which was cleared of NPAs through multi-sectoral peace initiatives. The inauguration underscores how local governments in former conflict-affected areas of Mindanao have been shifting toward road, drainage, and flood-control spending as stability takes hold.

All of the towns and cities in the entire Davao Region, as well as parts of Northern Mindanao, Soccsksargen, and Caraga being secured by units of the 10th ID, are now NPA-free. This was achieved through the cooperation of Army and police officials, former members of the now-defunct rebel group who have returned to the fold of the law, local executives, leaders of indigenous communities, and various peace-advocacy groups.

Up to 347 NPAs from different Cotabato towns have surrendered to units of the 10th ID and the 602nd Infantry Brigade of the 6th Infantry Division over the past four years, through the joint intercession of local executives, Army officials, and counterparts from the provincial police command.

Municipal officials said the new projects will speed up the transport of farm products to trading areas in the center of Makilala, improve the mobility of students traveling from their barangays to their schools, and strengthen the operations of local government emergency responders in Kisante, Garsika, Batasan, and Bato. — John Felix M. Unson