Basilan ready for fresh investors

LAMITAN CITY, Basilan province — The City of Lamitan and the town of Akbar in Basilan province have formally declared yesterday they are “Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG)-Free” and openly announced they are “ready to receive fresh investors and accommodate new investments.”

Lamitan Mayor Roderick H. Furigay said yesterday the city is now ASG-Free and is ready to receive fresh investors and accommodate new investments to help boost the economy of the city.

Furigay said the peace and order condition of the city is now stable and does not foresee any investment disturbance in the coming years.

“Having new investors in this city will also help the local government unit (LGU) here in our quest for economic development and employment efforts for our people and increase the prosperity of our city,” he said.

Furigay emphasized that new investment will greatly contribute to economic growth and build relationships and goodwill that will last beyond the investment time horizon.

Having good peace and order conditions in the city and inviting the private sector to invest in this city is essential for stimulating and boosting economic growth, the mayor here pointed out.

Over in Akbar town, Mayor Alih A. Sali is also inviting investors to invest in his town after the municipal government unveiled a “peace marker” that signaled the formal declaration of the town as ASG-Free yesterday.

Capitalizing on the town’s status as ASG-Free, Mayor Sali also said that the town is “drug-free and extortion-free” since no organized groups are operating in his town.

Sali said infrastructure support programs funded by the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) will start mushrooming the town due to a better peace and order atmosphere.

For his part, 101st Infantry (Three Red Arrows) Brigade Commander Brig. Gen. Alvin V. Luzon said the declaration of ASG free in the towns of Lantawan, Akbar, and in the city of Lamitan “does not entirely call for celebration for them in the security sector.”

Luzon said, “We viewed the declaration of ASG-Free in these two towns and cities as more of a challenge and a call for us to closely monitor and be more vigilant in collaboration of the LGU and the citizenry.”