Travelling to Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay tonight, I decided to get off at the Highway Roundball marking the political boundaries of Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur to film this short video.
While I had passed through this road, the Narciso Ramos Highway, many times in the past, I never felt as safe as I was tonight.
Along the highway in Matanog, the last Maguindanao town before Lanao del Sur, I saw Solar street lights, sari-sari stores still open at 8:25 pm and trucks carrying fish from the Zamboanga Peninsula bound for Cotabato City and Maguindanao traveling freely.
A few years ago, night travel through this long stretch of highway which leads to as far as Zamboanga City was unthinkable.
The main redoubt of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Camp Abubakar is in Matanog and Buldon towns where the Narciso Ramos Highway passes through.
The area was the scene of the bloodiest battles between the government and the MILF in 2001.
Things changed when President Rody Duterte forged the Peace Agreement with the MILF which led to the establishment of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region.
Today, people could freely and safely pass through this highway even at night, a blessing that is now enjoyed by Mindanaoans.
This is President Duterte’s greatest legacy.
#PeaceBringsAboutProgress!
(Video taken by Director Joey Recimilla, Mindanao Development Authority.)
https://fb.watch/asPuM3qlAV/
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