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Lt. Gen. Donald Gumiran, chief of the Western Mindanao Command (right), is involved in activities complementing the government's peace overtures with Moro communities.
Philstar.com / John Unson
COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Local executives in Central Mindanao welcomed the special award given by TopNewsAsia Magazine to the current commander of the Western Mindanao Command, saying it also recognized their continuing support for WestMinCom’s peacebuilding programs.
Radio reports on Saturday, May 23, stated that WestMinCom’s chief, Lt. Gen. Donald Gumiran, and his immediate-superior, Lt. Gen. Antonio Nafarrete, commander of the Philippine Army, were among the 13 dignitaries who received the Nation Builders: Leading Men Award from the TopNewsAsia Magazine during a symbolic rite last Tuesday at the Chairman’s Lounge of the Okada-Manila Hotel in Manila.
Local executives were quoted in Saturday's radio reports as saying that the TopNewsAsia Magazine’s award for Gumiran was premised on his extensive involvement in multi-sector, inter-agency peacebuilding activities in Administrative Regions 9 and 12 and in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Gumiran was commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division covering Region 12 and parts of BARMM and its regional capital, Cotabato City, before he took the helm of the WestMinCom.
South Cotabato Gov. Reynaldo Tamayo Jr., chairperson of the cross-section Regional Peace and Order Council 12, told reporters on Saturday that Gumiran deserved the award from the TopNewsAsia Magazine.
“He and the officials of the 6th Infantry Division and its battalions, the municipal, city and provincial officials and sectoral leaders in Region 12 had secured the surrender of hundreds of local terrorists and the collection of thousands of unlicensed firearms, including assault rifles, from the local communities in the past three years,” Tamayo said.
Tamayo was referring to the return to the fold of law of 2,013 members of the now inactive Dawlah Islamiya and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and 423 New People’s Army guerillas during the period, achieved via backchannel intercession by local executives and Army officials under Gumiran.
“For us, the award he got was also a tap on our shoulders and an inspiration for us to continue supporting the peacebuilding initiatives of the WestMinCom and the 6th Infantry Division,” said Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza, referring to Gumiran, who had also served as commander of the Army’s 602nd Infantry Brigade, securing parts of their province, prior to his assumption as 6th ID's commander.
Mendoza, chairperson of the Regional Development Council 12, said on Saturday that she and her constituent-leaders are grateful to the 602nd Infantry Brigade, the 6th ID and the WestMinCom for assisting the LGUs in their province improve its investment potentials through peace and security initiatives also supported by the Moro National Liberation Front and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
The MNLF and the MILF, which have separate peace compacts with Malacañang, have members in the 80-seat Bangsamoro parliament, whose figurehead, Chief Minister Abdulrauf Macacua, is also a staunch supporter of the WestMinCom’s community service projects benefiting the Muslim, Christian and non-Moro indigenous communities in BARMM’s five provinces and three cities.
