Lamitan folk want a model Yakan village in Basilan too

COTABATO CITY -- Residents of Basilan want the model Yakan village here duplicated in their island province as an icon oftheir zeal to bounce back from conflicts and underdevelopment.The model Yakan, Tausug, Maguindanao, Sama and Maranaw villages inside the 32-hectare regional capitol here of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao were built as showcases of the cultural pluralism in ARMM.Barangay captains from Lamitan City, capital of Basilan, hosted this week the activities in the Yakan village, open daily to domestic and foreign tourists.The barangay officials told reporters Saturday they want a similar mock dwelling enclave built in Basilan province, now bouncing back from conflicts and rising as ARMM’s new investment frontier.Even Vice President Leni Robredo, who was here Thursday, was markedly amazed with the five model villages that she toured along with regional officials led by ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman.The designated chieftain of the Yakan model village is nurse-lawyer Laisa Masuhud-Alamia, who is executive secretary of the ARMM government.Robredo said ARMM residents should continue helping push the southern Mindanao peace process forward for normalcy to spread through the region’s five provinces - Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.ARMM’s Muslim, Christian and Lumad residents are main stakeholders to the on-going peace process between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.Robredo said good governance will complement efforts of addressing the nagging security problems besetting troubled areas in the autonomous region.Robredo cited as example the improvements in peace and order in Basilan as a consequence of efficient governance that she said she saw personally during a recent sortie there. Based on conversations with Basilan residents, the level of satisfaction is high. Hopes are high too that there are peaceful and good days for them ahead, Robredo told reporters who covered her activity in the ARMM capitol.She said the infrastructure projects implemented in Basilan by the current ARMM administration in recent years had ushered in improvements in the area’s security and economy.Lamitan City barangay officials who helped oversee this week the Yakan village said constructing model Yakan, Tausug and Sama villages in Basilan will help educate outsiders on how the three communities and their Christian neighbors are together working for peace to reign in the province.While the Yakan people comprise the majority in Basilan, the island province is also home to Tausug, Sama and non-Muslim residents such as Zamboangueños and Visayan settlers from the nearby Zamboanga peninsula.Lamitan City Vice Mayor Roderick Furigay said Saturday there are many scenic areas in their 45 barangays where model villages can be established.Among the potential sites for the model villages is the immediate periphery of the provincial ARMM government center being constructed by the office of Hataman in Barangay Santa Clara in Lamitan City. We have a reformist and visionary ARMM governor who is likely to give attention to our wish. We in Lamitan City are ready to help him put up one, Furigay said.Furigay said the participation of his constituent-barangay officials in managing the activities this week of the Yakan model village was also to manifest support to the candidacy of Hataman for congressional representative of the lone district of Basilan.Hataman has volunteered to step down from ARMM’s highest elective post and aspire for a seat in congress during the May 2019 elections instead to pave the way for a smooth transition from the present regional government to an incoming MILF-led Bangsamoro regional political entity.The enabling measure for ARMM’s replacement with a Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, or BARMM - the Bangsamoro Organic Law - shall be subjected to a plebiscite on January 21 next year.The referendum, to be administered by the Commission on Elections, will seal the fate of the BOL, whose approval via such process will supersede ARMM’s charter, the Republic Act 9054. He (Hataman) will do a homecoming after serving as ARMM governor for six years and that is something we are so happy about, Furigay said.Furigay said he is certain the now outgoing ARMM governor will pay attention on their desire to have model Yakan, Tausug and Sama villages in Basilan before his term as regional chief executive ends on June 30, 2019.Hataman, who first ventured into politics as Anak Mindanao Party-list representative almost two decades ago, hails from Sumisip town in Basilan.Almost 200 Abu Sayyaf militants in Basilan surrendered in the past 24 months through the joint intercession of the Hataman-led ARMM peace and order council, the Regional Police Office-12 and the Western Mindanao Command.The now reforming former Abu Sayyaf terrorists are being reintegrated into mainstream society by line agencies of the ARMM government.