Groups call on public to help in peace effort

THE presidents of the Zamboanga Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation Inc. (ZCCIFI) and the Golden Crescent Consortium of Peace Builders and Affiliate have called on the public to rally behind the local government and law enforcement authorities in the effort to keep Zamboanga City safe and sound.

ZCCIFI president Pedro Rufo Soliven and Professor Ali Yacub, president of the Golden Crescent Consortium issued the call in the light of the recent twin bombings and the spate of crime incidents in Zamboanga City.

Both Soliven and Yacub cited the importance of the participation of the public in the campaign to curb criminality in the community.

“As Zamboangueños, everybody in the community has the responsibility to make the city safe. This is not just the responsibility of the local government or the police, this is our responsibility. We want to say that a peaceful City starts with us in the community, in our respective homes and in ourselves,” Soliven said.

Soliven admitted that Thursday’s twin bombings will send a wrong signal anew to investors. However, he said that it will not stop Zamboangueños from helping the City Government promote the city as an investment hub.

“It is really a sad event (bombing) but we ask the people to rally behind the city mayor and the police. We cannot all the time blame the police for these incidents,” Yacub said.

“The Task Force Zamboanga, the police and the City Government are doing their best and we cannot be blaming all the time the police. The police cannot be guarding the whole stretch of the city all the time, unless our people will cooperate and one of the cooperative efforts is to report to the authorities anything they know about an incident,” Yacub added.

“We know the competence of the police and our military and Task Force Zamboanga,” he said, adding that the community should and must share in the responsibility of making Zamboanga City a safe place to live.