Iligan City (6 October) -- "We have to put all our acts together if only to secure peace."
This was the closing statement of Col. Benito T. De Leon, Commander of the 104th Infantry (Sultan) Brigade, 1st Infantry (Tabak) Division, Philippine Army, in his message yesterday during the Iligan City Business Forum.
The forum, held at the Maria Cristina Hotel, was jointly hosted by the Department of Trade and Industry of Region 10 and the Iligan Investment Promotion Center.
The activity, which carries the theme "Maintaining Peace and Good business Climate in Iligan City" provided enough elbow room for the business sector to present their views and concerns and the opportunity to inter-act with military Officials regarding the prevailing peace and order situation in Iligan City and the Lanao Provinces.
Col. De Leon in support to Iligan City Mayor, Lawrence Ll. Cruz, exhorted the forum participatns that the "business of peace is everybody's business".
He praised Mayor Cruz and the people of Iligan, who bravely pursue the conduct of all the scheduled activities and thereby successfully celebrated the Diyandi Festival amid security apprehensions.
De Leon said that the non-cancellation of the month-long festival activities is a clear indication of the people's confidence with their security forces. The successful conduct of the Diyandi Festival projected a favorable and peaceful climate of a "business as usual" image for Iligan city.
De Leon clarified that the military is only one dimension in the pursuit of peace. And that there are yet other factors such as economic or business, political, societal, among others.
"All of us should check whether our thoughts or actions are contributing towards peace or sowing discord." De Leon told participants of the Forum.
He then cited the peace building initiatives of the Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship of Iligan and Lanao del Norte Chapter who are working for the replication of Project Islam. Its project, as he explains, seeks to develop harmony between Christian and Muslim communities which Barangay Delabayan in Kauswagan is a model.
He also acknowledged the simple peace efforts of the Mindanao Commission on Women which aspires for a Million TAPS (Thoughts and Acts of Peace).
De Leon called upon the business sector to see how they can also contribute their share towards the attainment of peace.
He challenged the business sector with a question "How much of your bottom-line are you willing to give for peace?" and "Are you going to rake profits to create a significant divide and indifference between the haves and have nots?"
De Leon assured the business group that the military will always put serious consideration in addressing their security concerns, "not only peace in our time for our sake, but for the future generations," he appealed. (PIA)
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