TROOPS of the Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) have delivered basic services in an outreach mission to the less fortunate students in Maguindanao province, official said Thursday, March 14.

Colonel Gerry Besana, Westmincom information officer, said the beneficiaries of the outreach mission, which was held Wednesday, were the students the elementary school in Old Maganoy village, Datu abdullah Sangki, Maguindanao.

Besana said the troops provided them free haircut and distributed 100 packs of used clothing to 40 students of the school.

He said the outreach program was conducted while surgical operations continue in the areas of Salibu-Pagatin-Mamasapano and Shariff Aguak, all in Maguindanao.

Meanwhile, troops of the 23rd Mechanized Company and the 63rd Division Reconnaissance Company, together with residents and village officials of Old Maganoy conducted, a clean-up drive to support the government’s environmental program.

“The residents of Old Maganoy deserve free government services as we want to make sure that they reached the people at the grassroots level of the community,” said Major General Cirilito Sobejana, Army’s 6th Ingantry Division commander.

Lieutenant General Arnel Dela Vega, Westmincom chief, said civil-military operations are underway to reach out to the underprivileged

“We want to be part of the government’s solutions to eliminate poverty and to improve the lives of every Mindanaoan, especially those who live in strife-torn and far-flung areas,” Dela Vega said.

“We want to do these by contributing to security and economic development in the area,” he added. (Bong Garcia/SunStar Philippines)