MATANAO, Davao del Sur—The Municipal Government of Matanao in Davao del Sur province is setting up a peace memorial in Barangay Asbang.
Mayor Vincent Fernandez of Matanao town led the groundbreaking ceremony with the officers of the 39th Infantry Battalion where he stressed that the peace memorial will stand as a symbol of unity of all stakeholders of peace and the aspiration of the people on a peaceful community.
He also dedicated the memorial to the people who work, dedicated and paid the ultimate sacrifice in the name of peace.
Mayor Fernandez also emphasized that peace is essential for the continuous progress of their municipality.
“The Local Government Unit of Matanao is committed to preserving the lessons of history, because of those who made an ultimate sacrifice, peace has been attained. Through this, Matanao has been engaging in Peace Tourism to showcase the conflict transformation of the municipality from Terrorism to Tourism,” he said.
1Lt. Sharmaine De La Rosa, civil-military operations officer of the 39th Infantry Battalion recalled that Matanao was once affected by insurgency where skirmishes took place hampering the development of the area as tribal, eco-adventure, and mountaineering destination.
“The area was emancipated from insurgency through the participation of the community and interventions from different government agencies in addressing the socio-economic issues through the Whole-of-Nation Approach,” she said. PIA DAVAO