HDAP rebuilds villages affected by 2015 Mamasapano carnage

MAGUINDANAO - Besides providing food, shelter, water and electricity, the government is also constructing houses for Moro families in the province to hasten their recovery from conflicts and calamities.Dyan Sangkula Jumaide, regional agrarian reform secretary of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said Tuesday they turned over last month to ethnic Maguindanaon families 24 houses they built as part of ARMM’s Human Development Action Program.The socialized housing component of HDAP, handled by the Department of Agrarian Reform-ARMM, is just one of the community-empowerment initiatives of the regional government in fledgling agrarian reform communities.The executive department of ARMM launched HDAP to help Moro sectors affected by the infamous January 25, 2015 Mamasapano incident in Mamasapano town in the second district of Maguindanao rise from poverty and underdevelopment.The Army’s 6thInfantry Division, which has jurisdiction over Maguindanao, and the Police Regional Office-ARMM are both helping push forward the HDAP, partly focused on addressing domestic peace and security issues through humanitarian efforts in potential conflict flashpoint areas.Jumaide said last month’s transfer of ownership documents to the beneficiaries of the houses in Sultan sa Barongis and in Rajah Buayan towns in Maguindanao was one of the highlights of the commemoration of the third anniversary of the Mamasapano incident that left 61 people dead.The Sultan sa Barongis and Rajah Buayan towns, both near Mamasapano, were also affected badly by the Mamasapano incident that resulted in the deaths of 44 personnel of the police’s elite Special Action Force.The slain police officers were retreating from Barangay Pidsandawan, Mamasapano where they killed in a raid before dawn on January 25, 2015 the wanted Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, also known as Marwan, when they were attacked by guerillas of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.The attack sparked a 10-hour gunfight that exacted 12 fatalities on the MILF and caused the deaths of five innocent villagers who were trapped in the crossfire.Local officials in the two towns said Tuesday besides the houses, the DAR-ARMM also turned over solar driers and farm machineries to local agrarian reform beneficiaries last month. These interventions are meant to improve the lives of residents in poverty-stricken towns, Jumaide said.The HDAP, bankrolled with a P2.2 billion grant from the national government, is under the joint ministerial control of ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman and the region’s planning director, Baintan Adil-Ampatuan.It aims to promote the socio-economic empowerment of marginalized communities that are still reeling off from the effects of conflicts and calamities.The ARMM’s social welfare, agriculture, health and local government departments also have on-going pro-poor projects under HDAP.Rajah Buayan Mayor Zamzamin Ampatuan, a staunch supporter of HDAP, said Tuesday he and his constituents are grateful to the ARMM agencies implementing the program in their municipality. Human development interventions in fledgling Moro communities are so important. We need to do everything to `rescue’ poor Moro communities in far-flung areas from poverty that condones security problems, Ampatuan said.The mayor, a civil engineer by profession, said their LGU is actively implementing local socio-economic programs complementing the human development goals of the ARMM and Malacañang.