COTABATO CITY — At least 36 transitional shelters were turned over by the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) regional government to families left homeless by the five-month Marawi hostilities, in Barangay Lumbaca Toros, Saguiaran, Lanao del Sur on Friday.
“The shelter project is targeting 180 families, so more houses are up for completion soon,” ARMM Governor Mujiv Hataman said, noting that the initial beneficiaries were from Norhaya, one of the villages within an area in Marawi labeled as ‘Ground Zero’.
Hataman said the additional 144 units located in Barangay Pantaon in the same town are still under construction and will be turned over to beneficiaries this year.
The beneficiaries have been living in the Saguiaran town evacuation center since the battle to retake Marawi from the hands of local terrorists erupted in May last year.
“Slowly, the number of families in evacuation centers will be reduced, including those living in evacuation tents,” Hataman said.
Anwar Upahm, ARMM-HELPS (Health, Education, Livelihood, Peace and Governance, and Synergy) program manager, quoted 48-year-old mother, Norma Umpa, as saying that the pain she has been feeling is slowly getting healed, knowing that there are people ready to help her.
“To be honest, I almost lost hope getting aid from the government. Now you are here helping us,” she told the ARMM HELPS official in the vernacular. Umpa is just one of the thousands of residents who were displaced by the conflict and lived in evacuation centers.
The regional government has earmarked PHP20 million for the construction of the housing units, equipped with ample water facilities and a 100-meter access road.
Hataman said the regional government is determined to rebuild the foundations of local leadership and re-establish safe spaces for the most vulnerable groups in the communities.
The regional government has allocated PHP150 million for Marawi City’s rehabilitation program on top of the series of medical and psychosocial services, relief distribution, livelihood training and assistance, peace advocacy, dialogue, and consultation, among others.
“I assure you that your regional government and the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte will help you all the way for you to rise from the ruins,” Hataman said.
Barangays Lumbaca Toros and Pantaon in Marawi City, where the housing units are being built, are both recipients of the governor’s anti-poverty program under ARMM-HELPS.
Upahm said other projects in Barangay Pantaon will be turned over this year while construction of facilities in Barangay Lumbaca Toros will start this month.
The projects include barangay halls, a multi-purpose building, school armchairs, and farm machinery. Moreover, the regional government is also set to provide the evacuees with livelihood programs and to train them in Islamic finance. (Edwin Fernandez/PNA)
