Mayor Sara lauds Cotabateños in staging of Kalivungan fest

KIDAPAWAN CITY, North Cotabato (PNA) – Presidential daughter and Davao City Mayor Sara Z. Duterte lauded the people of this province for the successful staging of the Kalivungan Festival, calling it a symbol of unity in diversity.

The mayor was guest of honor in the closing ceremonies of the Kalivungan Fest on Saturday and hailed the festivity of unity in diversity as similar to Davao City’s multicultural Kadayawan sa Davao Festival.

“Mao ni atong kinahanglan, nga maghiusa kita sa luyo sa atong governor, sa atong vice governor, sa atong mga board members, sa atong mga mayors og konsehal even sa atong mga barangay kapitan – maghiusa kita sa ilang likod kay ang kusog sa mga local government officials naa diha sa katawhan (This is what we need, to unite with our governor, vice governor, board members, mayors and councilors and even our barangay captains – we should unite with them because the strength of the local government lies with our constituents),” she said.

Sara said without unity, there will be no fruitful outcome from efforts of government officials.

She also urged the people not to support the New People’s Army (NPA) in their respective barangays and municipalities, and called on them to rally behind the government.

“Naa lang pud koy hangyo, naa koy request nga kung pwede ayaw lang pud ninyo tabangi ang kalaban sa gobyerno para pantay (I have a request to you if you will not help the government, do not also help the enemies of state to be fair),” Sara said.

She added that the rebels in her city are also the same in the province because the NPA is operating in remote areas of Marilog and Paquibato districts in Davao City going to the municipalities of Arakan and Magpet of Cotabato.

“Moingon lang mo – sundalo man na, NPA man na, o terrorista, sir, ayaw lang ako ang istoryaha, ayaw alang ako ang i-recruit, ayaw lang diri sa akong tugkaran because ang gusto nako malinawon nga pagpamuyo diri sa among barangay, diri sa among municipality. Gusto nako akong mga anak maka iskwela og tarong, mahuman og iskwela, maka negosyo ko gamay, ang akong bana maka drive og motor ako magka tindahan ang amoang uma matarong namo para sa among harvest – mao lang ang akong hangyo (Just tell them – whether they are soldiers, NPA or terrorists, sir don’t talk to us, do not recruit us, not here in our place, because I want peace in our barangay and municipality. I want my children to go to school and finish their studies, have small business, my husband could drive a motorcycle, I could have a small store, fix our farm to have good harvest – that is my only request),” she said.