Military pursues peace building efforts, says WESMINCOM commander

Islamic City of Marawi (22 July) -- The Western Mindanao Command (WESMINCOM) is in the midst of a paradigm-shift in the way it is conducting its operations.

According to the WESMINCOM commanding officer Gen. Benjamin Dolorfino, they are embarking on a campaign design that has an operational mix of 20%) intelligence-driven combat operations and eighty percent (80%) civil-military operations (CMO) and nation building.

"In addition to our primordial military task of confronting the enemies of the state, we are expanding our role in CMO and nation building by taking the lead in building and transforming relationship with the local governments and the people to address the root causes of internal security problems in Mindanao," Dolorfino said.

He said the internal security problems in Mindanao are likened to a tree where the branches and leaves respectively represent the different threat groups and their members while the roots represent the multi-dimensional root causes that significantly affect people's lives namely military, political, socio-economic, cultural, environmental and informational.

The WESMINCOM chief cited that these dimensions have respective problems that collectively contribute to the internal security problems stressing that each dimension is not isolated but rather interconnected with each other.

"It is in this light that we are pursuing six (6) lines of operation that correspond to the six dimensions," Dolorfino further said.

"We are conducting military operations: to promote peace and order; CMO to facilitate good governance; CMO to promote socio-economic development; CMO to promote cultural cohesiveness and harmony; CMO to promote sustainable environment; and CMO to enhance public information," he added.

He said soldier should not only be a warrior but also a bridging leader, facilitator of good governance and socio-economic development, conflict manager, environmentalist and information specialist.

"We are transforming from war fighting to peacemaking, peacekeeping and peace building," the WESMINCOM stressed.