ARMM Liaison Office facilitates Php144-M funds for regional dev't projects

• Source:http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?nid=2&rid=881370
• Sunday, May 1, 2016

(PNA), SCS/NYP/EOF

COTABATO CITY, May 1 (PNA) -- An agency of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has been working quietly to infuse funds for development projects in the Muslim region through facilitation and representation.

Since 2012, the Manila Liaison Office (MLO) of ARMM managed to bring in a total of Php144,228,000 from local and foreign sources, about 96 percent of which came from abroad, specifically from Muslim countries like Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, including non-Muslim states of Taiwan and Singapore, according to Joli Lais, ARMM-MLO head.

Lais said the development assistance has set a record in ARMM’s 25 years of existence.

“Fund assistance come quickly because of the reform agenda pushed and implemented by ARMM Gov. (Mujiv) Hataman,” Lais said in a statement released here.

Before the Hataman administration, the average annual generated resources through facilitation of the MLO reached just over Php1 million from donations during Islam's month-long Ramadan fasting period.

In 2012, the ARMM-MLO set up its Direct Community Services which links with Moro communities, civil society groups, and with various government agencies, including the military and the police in Metro Manila.

The resources and funding were generated from local and foreign sources for the benefit of communities and constituents in the ARMM, which comprised of the provinces of Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, and the cities of Lamitan and Marawi.

Lais said ARMM-MLO has contributed to the ARMM’s reform agenda, not only in the form of assistance and facilitation but also in reaching out to civil society organizations and in participating in various activities involving government agencies, local government units (LGUs), and international institutions.

Lais said more than 90 percent of the generated or facilitated resources by the liaison office was delivered to agencies operating in ARMM areas while the remaining amount, or around 10 percent, was utilized in Metro Manila and other areas outside the autonomous region.

Among those funded by foreign assistance are the acquisition of dialysis machines, hospital beds, mammograms, cryostat machines, refrigerated centerfuge machine, operating room surgical equipment, ophthalmology sets, orthopedic equipment, genaecological instruments, personal computers and printers, and other medical equipment and instruments.

A portion of the foreign donation went to Hajj or pilgrimage assistance, Lais said, adding that Hataman’s clear cut policy of transparency and accountability was the guiding principle of the MLO.

Hataman is seeking reelection as ARMM governor in the May 9 polls.

The MLO head said proper accounting of funding assistance and above-board implementation of projects have earned the confidence of foreign donors to ARMM.