WestMinCom ships relief supplies for Jolo fire victims 

COTABATO CITY --- Units under the Western Mindanao Command facilitated the other day the shipment to Jolo of relief supplies for 2,800 residents whose houses were razed by fire the day before.

Jolo is the capital town of Sulu, a component-province of the Bangsamoro region. 

The WestMinCom based in Zamboanga City said the provisions, mostly food items, were donated by the Southern Philippines Deep Sea Fishing, Permex Zamboanga, Filipino-Turkish Tolerance School, Woman Auxiliary Service, Western Mindanao Power Corporation, Venus Salon, Fraternal Order of Eagles, Southern City Colleges, eMedia Production Network, Inc. and the BlueShark Development and Trading Corporation.

Military units also donated food rations for the fire victims, shipped to Jolo along with those collected from different donors from across the Zamboanga peninsula.

“We are grateful to all those who donated supplies needed by fire victims in Jolo,” Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana said in a statement dispatched late Thursday.

The fire that hit Barangay Tulay, Chinese Pier and Takut-Takut areas in Jolo, Capital of Sulu, on Monday morning, February 3, destroyed thousands of houses, mostly made of wood.

The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao had initially extended assistance to the fire victims through BARMM’s emergency and disaster response contingent being managed by lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo, who is regional local government minister.

Sinarimbo personally led their relief mission to Jolo, partly focused on assessing the damage wrought by the disaster.

Sinarimbo said the BARMM government is thankful to the donors of the relief supplies the WestMinCom shipped to Jolo via a vessel plying the Zamboanga City-Jolo route.

He said they are also grateful to Sobejana, who is at the helm of WestMinCom, for supporting the relief missions of BARMM for thousands of Jolo residents now homeless as a result of the conflagration.