KIDAPAWAN CITY (June 7, 2026) — Players from the Muslim, Christian and non-Moro indigenous communities in Cotabato province, some of them identified with two erstwhile Moro rebel fronts, participated in basketball and volleyball tournaments this week, intended to foster cultural and religious understanding among them.
The ballgames, organized by the office of Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza, was also meant to encourage high school and college students in the 17 towns in the province and in the 40 barangays in its capital, Kidapawan City, to focus on sports for “leisure and fame” rather than getting hooked to illegal drugs.
Officials of the Police Regional Office 12, including their regional director, Brig. Gen. Alan Manibog, Army Major Gen. Alvin Luzon, commander of the 10th Infantry Division, and his counterpart in the 6th Infantry Division, Major Gen. Jose Vladimir Cagara, assured on Saturday, June 6, to support all youth sports competitions Talino-Mendoza’s office may possibly organize soon for young enthusiasts she wants to protect from illegal drugs and unite in the spirit of ecumenism
The 10th ID covers Kidapawan City, where the Cotabato provincial capitol is located, and nearby upland towns, some of which are located near the border of Maguindanao del Sur.
The 6th ID has units in Carmen, Cotabato and in towns in the 1st and 3rd districts of the province, close to Cotabato City, the capital of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Radio reports on Saturday, June 6, stated that athletes from Magpet, Mlang, Antipas and Carmen towns and in Kidapawan City have won the basketball and volleyball games organized by officials under the office of Taliño-Mendoza in the provincial capitol.
Taliño-Mendoza, now in her second term as governor, is a staunch supporter of the anti-narcotics campaign of PRO 12 and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency 12.
Talino-Mendoza, who is presiding chairperson of the Regional Development Council 12, is also known for her involvement in various programs complementing Malacañang’s peace overtures with the Moro National Liberation Front and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front that have separate peace compacts with the national government.
There are eight newly-created Bangsamoro municipalities, grouped as the Special Geographic Area (SGA) under the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao inside Cotabato province, which is in the territory of Administrative 12.
Taliño-Mendoza’s office still has humanitarian activities in all of the eight towns in the Bangsamoro SGA despite being no longer under her jurisdiction since 2019 after local residents, residing in 63 barangays in the area, originally under towns in Cotabato province, voted in favor of the inclusion of their communities into BARMM government’s coverage during a plebiscite then.