RELIEF ASSISTANCE. Widows of deceased Bangsamoro fighters sit and listen to the program in Pigcawayan, North Cotabato where the BARMM government launched Tuesday (Jan. 18, 2022) various development projects for residents of 12 villages that are now part of the autonomous government. A part of the program was dedicated to former Moro Islamic Liberation Front combatants who died during the more than two decades of struggle for self-determination in Mindanao where their widows received cash and relief aid from the regional government. (Photo courtesy of MILG-BARMM)
COTABATO CITY – The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) has launched the socio-economic and livelihood components of the Special Development Fund (SDF) - Bangsamoro Integrated Rehabilitation and Development Program (BIRDP) Phase 1 in 12 villages in North Cotabato under the BARMM Special Geographic Area (SGA).
Lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo, BARMM interior minister, said Wednesday the 12 villages formed part of 63 villages under the SGA-BARMM in North Cotabato.
“The 12 villages are under the Pigcawayan cluster of the SGA-BARMM in that province,” he said referring to the BIRDP launch in the area on Tuesday.
Sinarimbo said the program intends to improve governance through the exercise of its corporate powers that will sustain the villages’ economic and livelihood projects.
He pointed out that the BIRDP initiative is in the pipeline for the 51 other villages under the SGA-BARMM in North Cotabato.
Residents in the SGA have opted to join the expanded BARMM during the 2019 plebiscite on the Bangsamoro Organic Law, the enabling law that created the three-year-old autonomous region.
Launched on Tuesday were programs on the improvement of electricity connection in the 12 barangays, and the handing over of farm equipment, implements, motorized bancas, and fishing gears to the alliance of barangays; and the signing of a memorandum of agreement
The launching further initiated the signing of a memorandum of agreement by representatives of the villages with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fishery and Agrarian Reform (MAFAR), and the Ministry of Trade, Investment and Tourism (MTIT) to help uplift the economic condition of residents in the area.
“It is for our convergence effort so that MAFAR can provide agro and fisheries inputs and technical assistance for the farmers and fisherfolk, while MTIT will render assistance in business registration, management, and marketing,” Sinarimbo said.
The launching also directed the distribution of cash and relief assistance to the widows of deceased fighters in the Bangsamoro struggle.
“The launching was historic since it came while BARMM is celebrating its 3rd foundation anniversary on Friday, January 21,” Sinarimbo said. (PNA)
