MANILA: The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has finally turned over 300 housing units to the former Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) combatants and their families in Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga Sibugay provinces.
‘Bahagi ito ng programa ng ating Pangulong Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. na masigurado natin na yung pinaka bulnerable nating komunidad-yung mga indigenous peoples (IPs), mga dati nating combatants-ay siguradong mare-reintegrate nang maayos sa ating lipunan (This is part of the program of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. to ensure that our most vulnerable community-those indigenous peoples (IPs), our former combatants- will definitely be reintegrated properly into our society),’ DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian said in a news release on Monday.
Gatchalian, together with Undersecretary for Inclusive-Sustainable Peace and Special Concerns (ISPSC) Alan Tanjusay and Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. led th
e turnover of certificates of ownership to some 200 indigenous peoples of the Sama, Kalibugan and Subanen indigenous cultural communities (ICCs) in the town of Sibuco on Aug. 30.
Additional 75 housing units funded by the PAyapa at MAsaganang PamayaNAn (PAMANA) Program – Modified Shelter Assistance Project (MSAP) will also be built in the town through the initiative of the local government unit (LGU).
‘Nag-usap nga kami ni Sibuco Mayor Joel Ventura at Secretary Galvez na babalik ang DSWD para masigurado naman yung Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) kasi hindi naman sasapat ang bahay, kailangan may makakain din (We talked with Sibuco Mayor Joel Ventura and Sec. Galvez that the DSWD would return then to ensure the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) because the house would not be enough, there must be something to eat, too,’ Gatchalian said.
He assured the MSAP beneficiaries that the DSWD will provide livelihood assistance for them to ensure that they can sustain their well-being.
The MSAP is a program im
plemented by the DSWD and OPAPRU to give limited financial or material assistance to augment resources of families in building houses in relocation sites.
The completion of the MSAP units, Gatchalian said, was a result of the collaborative efforts of the LGU, OPAPRU, and DSWD.
Before the turnover, some 100 completed MSAP units were also turned over on Aug. 29 to the community members of the former MNLF combatants and their families in Barangay Caparan in Ipil town, Zamboanga Sibugay.
In Mabuhay Island, Tanjusay handed over checks amounting to PHP40 million to another group of former MNLF combatants who organized themselves as neighborhood associations to jumpstart the construction of 100 MSAP housing units with cash-for-work in a parcel of land donated by the LGU of Ipil.
From 2017 to 2023, the PAMANA MSAP has delivered 1,160 housing units in Regions 9 (Zamboanga Peninsula) and 11 (Davao Region), with a grant of PHP247.2 million and a cash-for-work component of PHP10.3 million.
Source: Philippines News
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