Soldiers help repair Maguindanao homes damaged by conflict

REPAIR. Soldiers patch up a hole in the house of a Maguindanao farmer they used as observation post during pursuit operation against Islamic State-linked Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters in Datu Paglas town. (Photo by 33rd IB)

DATU PAGLAS, Maguindanao — Troopers under the 33rd Infantry Battalion (IB), one of the military units pursuing Islamic State-linked Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in Maguindanao, have repaired over the weekend several houses destroyed during clashes here last week, an Army official said Monday.

Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc, Army’s 33rd Infantry Battalion chief, said among the houses that his men had repaired is that of farmer Sukarno Suhod, 55, which was used by the military during offensive actions against the BIFF group of Ustadz Sulaiman Tudon in Sitio Mopac, Barangay Poblacion.

“Our troops removed some parts of Suhod’s house wall as an observation post and firing position in support of the maneuvering military personnel,” Cabunoc said.

On Saturday, the 33rd IB reconstruction team led by 1Lt. Cesar Ballado, battalion civil-military operations officer, proceeded to the area together with town officials to assess the overall damage in the armed conflict area. Immediately, the soldiers started repair works.

“The same will be done to other civilian homes destroyed during the hostilities,” Cabunoc said.

Meanwhile, Cabunoc lauded Mayor Ibrahim Paglas for his readiness to extend assistance to the affected families, including materials for the repair of the damaged homes.

More than a thousand individuals were displaced by the hostilities in the area that began on July 1.

“We do not like this to happen but we have a duty to protect you from terrorists,” Cabunoc said in a gathering with the locals Saturday at the town gymnasium.

Cabunoc said it was the residents who tipped the military about the presence of the BIFF in Sitio Mopac. The gunmen have plotted to take over the town hall on July 3.