Aerial view of the 50 housing units turned over by the Bangsamoro Government to indigent families in Simsiman, Special Geographic Area (SGA) on March 4, 2024. (Marhom Ibrahim/BIO)
SPECIAL GEOGRAPHIC AREA—Fifty indigent families will celebrate their Ramadān in their new homes after the Bangsamoro Government officially turned over 50 newly-built housing units in Simsiman, Pigcawayan Cluster on March 4, 2024.
The P27.8-million housing project, equipped with three bedrooms, a kitchen, living area, comfort room, and solar power, was financed through the 2020 Special Development Fund (SDF)—an allocation for initiatives focused on “rebuilding, rehabilitation, and development of conflict-affected communities” from the Ministry of Human Settlements and Development (MHSD).
During the ceremony, MHSD Minister Atty. Hamid Aminoddin Barra stated that the provision of the housing units is part of the regional government’s commitment to the Bangsamoro people.
Before the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) in 2019, the majority of the 63 barangays comprising the SGA, which was carved out of Cotabato Province through a lawful plebiscite, had been devastated by human-induced conflict, resulting in massive displacement, damage to properties, and loss of lives.
Only after the establishment of the new regional autonomous government did immediate constructions of decent housing, road networks, barangay halls, and public markets, among others, become tangible indicators of development—mostly coined as “gains of the peace process” in the peacemakers’ parlance.
“This shows our concern for the Bangsamoro people as one of the agencies of the Bangsamoro Government,” Barra said, emphasizing that the government built them a house and that beneficiaries should turn these houses into homes.
The lawyer explained that house and home are different—the former referring to the structure while the latter means having families who love and care for each other dwelling in place.
Senior Minister Abunawas Maslamama retrospected the era when the Bangsamoro leaders were still negotiating for peace which eventually resulted in the signing of an agreement that then became monumental in the ongoing development in the region.
“What we have achieved today including those other accomplishments of the regional government are breakthroughs in our governance,” Maslamama said in Maguindanaon vernacular.
He further explained that all of these are results of the ‘bilateral negotiation’ of the Bangsamoro leaders who fought to pursue the Bangsamoro’s rights to self-determination.
Beneficiaries express gratitude
“We are thankful to the Bangsamoro Government for this project which solves one of our basic needs,” said 65-year-old Abdulsalam Eson, who lost his house during the war.
According to him, he used to live in a decent home before but due to the constantly transpiring war in their community before, he lost to a ‘fire’.
Due to his age, he is no longer able to do physically exhausting errands for economic gain, hence building a home is almost next to impossible.
Abdulsalam’s plight is almost the same to 48-year-old Myra Engkungan, who sold her house in order to finance the hospitalization of a family member.
“It was a hard decision but that was the only way we know back then to settle the hospital bill,” Engkungan shared.
According to her, hospitalization in the past was considered a luxury since not everyone could afford it, unlike today when the Bangsamoro Government is infusing funds for medical programs that provide medical assistance, free medicine, and other related services.
“With our new home, we no longer have to share house with our kins,” she happily said.
While accessing equitable housing is continually marred by societal intricate challenges, the case is different in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
The leadership of Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim acknowledges the existence of housing scarcity in the region rekindles hope for marginalized communities. (Abdullah Matucan/BIO)
