President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. assured that the government would take necessary actions to help the Basilan province utilize its resource-rich agricultural potential, noting that it would boost its food security while ensuring lasting peace nationwide.

Marcos, delivering his speech during the unveiling of Kasanyangan (Peace) Monument in Sumisip, Basilan on Saturday, stressed the province’s positive change from being tagged as once a “ground zero of  war” into an “epicenter of peace.”

“A province that was once tainted by violence and terrorism is now a zone of peace, made possible not by military might alone, but more so by a people saying no to violence,” he said.

The President emphasized that peace is more than a cessation of hostilities but also a creation of social order that values human dignity, improves lives, and promotes progress.

“Basilan’s new role is now the war against hunger. You have a land area twice the size of Singapore, blessed with a rich soil, above all more or less typhoon-free, which makes you an ideal bulwark in our fight for food security,” he said. 

Basilan is one of the island provinces in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Marcos likewise assured that Basilan province could count on the government to “unlock” its full potential to become the country’s food and fisheries production center.

“When your agri-fisheries potentials are unlocked, the whole country, not only Basilan, not only BARMM but the whole country will benefit,” he said. 

Further, Marcos said his administration is committed to making the Basilan province “no longer an island far south, but a very strategic island in the front” and a center of national goals and Philippine transformation.

“Basilan has arrived at this junction of its proud history because it refused to continue to be a place of violence,” Marcos said.

“Your future and fate are therefore intertwined with the nation’s. Please be assured that we will play our role as partners of Basilan’s great leap forward,” he further stated. 

Marcos also cited that Basilan has rich soil and is almost typhoon-free, which makes it “an ideal bulwark for the fight for food security.”

The President added the government will also unleash the province’s potential other than becoming one of the country’s food baskets. 

“It must be woven now into the fabric of social life. In the case of Basilan, the harnessing of its potentials—a land blessed with resources, and a people rich in talent—is the key to enduring peace, one that is based on common progress and shared prosperity,” Marcos said. 

Marcos also led the distribution of eight motorcycles to former rebels to support their livelihood at the sidelines of the Panabangan Si Kasanyangan event in the area.

Marcos, together with National Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro; National Security Council Secretary, Secretary Ed Año; the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity, Secretary Charlie Galvez; BARMM Chief Minister Al-hajj Murad Ebrahim; and of course, Basilan Governor Hadjiman Hataman Salliman;  and other BARMM officials, witnessed the destruction of surrendered assorted loose firearms. 

Marcos’ visit to the province highlights the government’s implementation of the Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) and Assistance for Security, Peace, Integration, and Recovery for Advanced Human Security program in BARMM. 

Under this initiative, the government has facilitated the surrender of more than 400 firearms in exchange for livelihood opportunities, the documentation of more than 4,000 high-powered and small weapons, and the processing of almost 200 licenses to own and possess firearms.