Cotabato City (March 27, 2020)—The Bangsamoro Government has started distributing its initial relief goods and medical supplies on Thursday, March 26, for the barangays in the city which are affected by the crisis due to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
First to receive the aid were 2,024 households of Barangay Bagua I.
Salamah Kadil Abdullah, 40, married, with 2 children from Purok Mabagel, Bagua l, said she was thankful to the assistance from the government of Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
She said her family is struggling to make ends meet because of the implemented community quarantine.
“Sa panahon ngayon, kailangan ng bawat isa ang tulong kasi kahit may trabaho ka, kung dika makalabas, kawawa ang pamilya,” Salamah said.
“Alhamdulillah dahil may tulong. Kahit papaano, sa pang araw-araw naman ay may maisasaing at makakain ng pamilya,” she added.
Salamah also expressed her gratitude to Bangsamoro Chief Minister Ahod “Al Haj Murad” Ebrahim for keeping his promise to help the Bangsamoro people, especially during trying times like this.
“Sa ating mahal na ministro (Chief Minister), maraming-maraming salamat sa tulong na naipaabot mo sa amin. Nagpapasalamat kami na hindi nyo kami pinabayaan sa ganitong sitwasyon, maraming salamat,” she said.
Bangsamoro Assistant Executive Secretary Abdullah Cusain said, “a total of 16,000 families from 8 barangays of the city will benefit from the massive relief operation of the Bangsamoro Government.”
Each relief pack contains 10 kilograms of rice, 7 cans of corned beef and tuna, 1 can of sardines, 4 packs of noodles, and 6 sachets of instant coffee.
“To ensure social distancing, we will give the relief packs directly to the Barangay Chairman. Sila na iyong magbibigay house-to-house,” Cusain said.
Aside from the relief packs, each barangay will also receive medical supplies, such as 2 thermal scanners, masks, gloves, Personal Protective Equipment or Hazmat, and hygiene kits containing toothbrushes, toothpastes and soap for their barangay health workers.
“These are initial aid only. More supplies are expected to arrive this week for our constituents in other municipalities in the Bangsamoro region,” Cusain said.
“We are also exploring an option to augment the emergency funds of all the municipalities in the BARMM. We will download additional funds directly to the LGUs, para sila na ang mag-purchase ng mga relief goods,” he added.
Recently, the Ministry of Social Services and Development (MSSD-BARMM) has also downloaded P7.3-Million to its provincial offices, intended for purchase of relief goods for the quarantine affected constituents. (Bureau of Public Information)
