LEADERS from 98 villages in Zamboanga City on Tuesday, August 1, expressed full cooperation and support to security measures initiated by the police, military, and local government unit to ensure peace and security in the city.
Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar together with the security cluster met with the village officials at Centro Latino Convention Hall to brief the latter on the measures undertaken by the police and military in light of the extended martial law in Mindanao.
“We are steadfast in our desire to keep Zamboanga City safe,” Salazar told the village officials as she urged them always maintain a heightened level of alert.
She said the Darul Ifta, Tablig, Ulama Council, Maranao Masjid, Sabiel Al Mukhtadeen, the Ustads and other groups whom she met together with the Philippine National Police, Task Force Zamboanga and some representatives from the City Council on Monday, July 31, have likewise expressed all out support to the security measures implemented in the city.
Salazar said all those present had agreed to form themselves into a technical working group (TWG) tasked to coordinate any and all activities being conducted in different mosques and madrasa, an Arabic word for any type of educational institution whether secular or religious, (madaris is the plural form but largely centered on Islamic jurisprudence).
Also present, representing the City Council, were Councilor Josephine Pareja, chairperson of the Committee on Peace and Order, and Councilor Tungku Hanapi, an IP (Indigenous Peoples) representative. (Bong Garcia/SunStar Philippines)