Historic Malabang town rising from underdevelopment

LANAO DEL SUR --- There are 33 street sweepers now maintaining cleanliness in the old seaside Malabang town, something residents have never ever seen before.

Malabang, existing since before World War II, is an old settlement in the second district of Lanao del Sur, a component-province of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. 

It was only in 2019 that residents of Malabang, locked in deadly clan wars for decades, have seen dramatic improvements in the municipality, ushered in by reforms introduced by a newcomer mayor, the 32-year-old Tomas Macapodi.

Macapodi was first elected to office during the May 2019 elections. He is to function as mayor until June 30, 2022.

“He is not a traditional politician. He goes around, talks to people in the market and along the streets for him to know the problems in the local communities as if he is not a mayor,” a resident, who introduced himself as Amier Saripada, said in Filipino, in Maranaw accent.

Major thoroughfares in Malabang now have streetlights and are covered by security cameras that the office of Macapodi provided as an added peace and security measure.

For the first time in decades, the Malabang local government unit now has functional garbage trucks the mayor’s office procured last year.

The largest of the units is a 10-wheeler truck that goes around Malabang to gather garbage every morning.

Macapodi said waste collectors can now promptly transport garbage collected from the town proper of Malabang to a dumpsite. 

Besides the LGU’s waste disposal drive and municipal infrastructure projects, the Macapodi administration also launched last year a “night market” to increase the earnings of local entrepreneurs, like street food vendors and merchandisers. 

“We embarked on this initiative to make Malabang’s local economy vibrant and to encourage entrepreneurs to bring out their best,” Macapodi said. 

The mayor, however, suspended, meantime, the operation of the night market, where hundreds flock daily after dusk, due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

“Our LGU has been doing its best to protect our people from this viral disease,” Macapodi said. 

He said his administration will try its best to restore the identity of Malabang as a progressive home of peace-loving Muslims and Christians co-existing in the context of interfaith and cultural solidarity. 

Malabang is touted as the oldest settlement in mainland Mindanao, one of the areas where the 14-century Arab-Malay Muslim preacher from Johore, Shariff Mohammad Kabunsuan, established communities based on Islamic teachings on respect for life, fraternalism and religious tolerance.