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==ARMM, UN agency launch corn farming project==
*Source:http://www.philstar.com/nation/2014/04/10/1311039/armm-un-agency-launch-corn-farming-project
*Thursday, April 10, 2014 2:43 pm
:By John Unson (philstar.com)
COTABATO CITY, Philippines --- Hundreds of ethnic Maguindanaon peasants stand to benefit from a 300-hectare joint corn farming project of the United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) and the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Makmod Mending Jr., ARMM’s regional agriculture and fisheries secretary, said the project will cover 300 hectares of arable lands in the adjoining Barangays Sefaran and Kurintem, both in Maguindanao’s nearby Datu Odin Sinsuat town.
“This WFP-assisted project is another `vote of confidence’ to the ARMM regional leadership,” Mending said.
Mending and WFP’s representative to the Philippines, Aomo Asaka Nyangara, signed on Tuesday a memorandum of agreement (MOA) outlining the details of the corn farming project.
Mending said 300 Moro farmers will be involved in the agricultural venture.
The MOA also detailed how the ARMM’s agriculture department and the WFP are to implement the corn farming project.
Mending and Nyangara signed the MOA in the presence of Ceasar Galvan of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Office (UNFAO) and WFP’s personnel based in Cotabato City.
The signing of the document was capped off by the distribution to 33 different farmers’ organizations in Maguindanao of P2-million worth of post-harvest facilities which the UNFAO helped put up.
==Groups want to plant million trees around ex MILF camp==
*Source:http://www.philstar.com/nation/2014/04/09/1310655/groups-want-plant-million-trees-around-ex-milf-camp
*Wednesday, April 9, 2014 3:05 pm
:By John Unson (philstar.com)
MAGUINDANAO, Philippines  --- The military aims to plant a million forest trees in the surroundings of the 20,000-hectare former main bastion of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front before the proposed establishment of the Bangsamoro entity in 2016.
Col. Noli Orense, commander of the Army’s 603rd Brigade, which is based in Camp Abubakar and also now known as military's Camp Iranun, said the re-implementation of the “Balik Kalikasan” project in the area  supports the environmental protection initiative.
“That may seem a `long shot,’ but absolutely achievable if we in the uniformed security sector, the civil society organizations, and the executive department of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao will pool our efforts together towards that goal,” he said.
The 603rd Brigade, whose headquarters sits on the center of the MILF’s former Abubakar Assidik Complex, has been implementing community reforestation projects since the government's take over of the area in 2000.
The former MILF stronghold, established by the late Egyptian-trained cleric Imam Salamat Hashim, in 1981 after he and his followers bolted from the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), was a showcase of the group’s concept of a puritan Islamic community, until it was liberated from rebel occupation in 2000.
ARMM natural resources secretary Kahal Kedtag said their re-activated Balik Kalikasan program aims to reforest the surroundings of the camp, hoping that the MILF-led Bangsamoro entity will declare it a protected forestland and historical site.
Nation ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1
Camp Abubakar is a fertile plateau surrounded by tropical rainforests, and criss-crossed by rivers that straddle through farming enclaves in lower areas in Maguindanao’s adjoining Barira, Buldon, Matanog and Parang towns, all in the second district of the province.
Kedtag, Orense, representatives of the regional police, and ARMM Vice Gov. Haroun Al-Rashid Lucman launched the reactivated Balik Kalikasan project last week in Camp Abubakar, to kick off a region-wide reforestation project, and to celebrate the March 27, 2014 signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro by the government and the MILF.
The project was first implemented in 2006 but was discontinued.
Kedtag said they are planning to plant enough Mahogany, Antipolo, Narra and other forest tree seedlings in the surroundings of Camp Abubakar to restore its forest cover by the time the Bangsamoro political entity is established.
“By 2016 we must already have planted no less than 10 million or more trees in Camp Abubakar and in other watershed areas in the autonomous region,” Kedtag said.
The ARMM covers the provinces of Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, which are both in mainland Mindanao, and the island provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, which the MILF wants to group together under a new Bangsamoro government.
Orense said the 603rd Brigade has committed the support of all its enlisted members and commissioned officers to the Balik Kalikasan project.
“This project is parallel with the brigade’s reforestation effort. We will, thus, support it to the best we can,” Orense said.
==Gov’t moves for earlier completion of Cotabato airport expansion project==
*Source:http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?nid=3&rid=633468
*Tuesday, April 8, 2014
:(PNA), FPV/JS-PR/UTB
COTABATO CITY, April 8 (PNA) -– Government officials have assured business leaders here that flight operations at Cotabato (Awang) Airport will resume normal operations in August this year, with the expected completion of runway and taxiway expansion project earlier than the original target.
In a recent dialogue-meeting at the Executive Office of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), officials from key government agencies and local business leaders have reached a consensus for flight adjustments and fastracking of airport expansion work.
The meeting, which sought to address issues arising from the airport’s flight service limitations, was attended by officials from the ARMM, City Government of Cotabato, Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), as well as leaders from the business community.
Currently, flights to and from Cotabato City are reduced to four days-a-week schedule with Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays dedicated for project construction work. Prior to this, the airport has four daily flights to and from Manila.
“We are looking into every possible way to ease the inconvenience resulting from the airport expansion work, even as we recognize the impact of this to the business sector,” said MinDA Executive Director Janet Lopoz, adding that, “efforts are geared at hastening project implementation, while ensuring that quality is not compromised.”
According to DOTC’s Lino Dhabi, Assistant Secretary for Project Monitoring and Evaluation, the rehabilitation of Cotabato Airport accords safe and enhanced facility for flights by providing adequate dimension of runway and taxiway, in compliance with the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization.
Meanwhile, Lopoz said the DOTC Project Management Unit has committed to submit monthly reports to the concerned agencies to ensure that the new project timeline and the quality standards are strictly followed.
An agreement was also met by the inter-agency group to facilitate a window time of flight schedule from 12:00 PM to 4 PM every Tuesday,Wednesday, and Thursday, with the Philippine Airlines (PAL) Express expressing interest to provide flight services to the proposed window schedule.
The P55-million airport improvement project, which commenced in January this year has drawn negative reactions from the Cotabato flying passengers reporteldy due to lack of public consultation and delays in work. The reduced flights also resulted to double handling and attendant costs.
The original project timeline has set the project completion, including construction of perimeter fence, to December this year.
Acting on the call of the Cotabato business sector and other flying passengers, the Regional Board of Investments of ARMM passed a resolution to convene all the concerned entities to resolve the issues on airport improvement project.
“It was a good thing that MinDA acted immediately on our request to convene all the concerned agencies in this project, even elevating our discussion to the DOTC Central Office,” said RBOI Director Atty. Ishak Mastura.
He added that the meeting has paved the way for revising timeline for project completion and subsequent resumption of daily flights, sooner than planned.
“The completion of the project is seen to significantly improve the business climate in Central Mindanao, as it aims to attract more local and foreign investors by providing the needed business logistics, particularly flight connectivity,” Mastura said.
==ARMM starts release of teachers' back wages==
*Source:http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?nid=2&rid=633076
*Monday, April 7, 2014
:(PNA), JBP/NYP
COTABATO CITY, April 7 (PNA) –- The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has started releasing the long awaited back wages of public school teachers in the region.
Lawyer Laisa Alamia, ARMM executive secretary, said Maguindanao teachers have started receiving their back wages and they can now start disengaging with loan sharks.
”We are trying our best to bring our teachers away from loan sharks,” Alamia told reporters a day after Department of Education (DepEd-ARMM) had released checks to some teachers.
Sympathizing with the teachers, Alamia said ARMM mentors are forced to “bite” the availability of loan sharks due to low pay. The situation was taken advantage of by money lending traders who collect high interest rates.
After Maguindanao, DepEd will distribute teachers’ checks to Lanao del Sur and the island provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi afterwards.
”We hope our teachers can do away with loan sharks,” she added.
She explained this is the main reason why ARMM is supporting moves in Congress raising the public school teachers’ basic pay from Salary Grade 10 to Salary Grade 20.”
Alamia explained that the payment of back wages of teachers was among the priorities of ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman who was tasked by President Aquino to institute reforms in the natural resources rich but corrupt-ridden regional government.
==ARMM Balik-Kalikasan program reactivated to plant over 800k trees for 2014==
*Source:http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?nid=8&rid=632873
*Sunday, April 6, 2014
:By Noel Y. Punzalan [(PNA), SCS/NYP/]
CAMP IRANUN, Maguindanao, April 6 (PNA) -- To save its remaining forest covers, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources–Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (DENR-ARMM) reactivated on Saturday a massive tree-planting program that targets to plant 883,000 trees across the region this year.
The advocacy, aptly dubbed “Balik-Kalikasan,” was spearheaded by the DENR-ARMM, with the Army’s 603rd Infantry Brigade (IB) based in this camp, as partners in the planting of 1,500 tree seedlings.
Over 100 other environmental advocates, including members of the Cotabato media, also joined the activity.
This camp, situated at the heart of Barira town, is the former main bastion of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) called Camp Abubakar that fell into government hands in 2000 during the height of the all-out military operation against Moro insurgents by the then Estrada administration.
More than a decade after its fall, this former rebel fortress has transformed into a center of a greening program by the government, with the 603rd IB watching over the sprawling forest cover straddling the 32,000-hectare Barira-Buldon-Matanog expanse.
The MILF, meanwhile, is currently nearing completion of a comprehensive peace deal with the administration of President Benigno S. Aquino III.
“We would be planting mahogany, antipolo, rubber and coffee seedlings this year in the region,” DENR-ARMM Secretary Kahal Kedtag said.
He added that his office has a pending P300-million budget proposal before the DENR headquarters in Manila for this year, some five times bigger that the 2013 budget of P49 million.
“There is barely a 20 percent forest cover left in the entire region and our plan is to at least increase it to 30 percent this year,” Kedtag said.
The “alarming” situation, Kedtag added, has prompted ARMM lawmakers to legislate measures in declaring a “total log ban” in the region since 2010.
The ARMM comprises the cities of Marawi and Lamitan and the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Sulu, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi.
“As early as this time, let us teach the children to care for the environment, as it is their responsibility to take care of what would be handed to them by us environmentalists,” ARMM Vice Gov. AL Rashid Haroun Lucman said here.
For his part, Col. Noli Orense, 603rd IB chief, said that the "balance of nature should be a primary task for everyone to sustain, as God gifted us a balanced, perfect nature to nurture."
Balik-Kalikasan was first launched in 2006 but decommissioned thereafter following succession of changes in the ARMM leadership brought about by past elections and the infamous, election-related 2009 Maguindanao Massacre that toppled down the Ampatuans from power due to alleged involvement in the killing of 57 people, including 33 media personalities, in the carnage.
==Work on P500-M community projects in ARMM gets underway==
*Source:http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?nid=2&rid=632675
*Saturday, April 5, 2014
:(PNA), JBP/NYP/EOF
KIDAPAWAN CITY, April 5 (PNA) -- Work on the construction of a cluster of public facilities at identified communities in Maguindanao province gets underway following the groundbreaking rites Friday led by Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Governor Mujiv Hataman, the ARMM public information office said today.
Pandag, a farming village of around 2,700 people at a town that shares its name, and Dulangan, also a farming village, in Datu Odin Sinsuat town are two of the recipient communities in the province of ARMM’s Health, Education, Livelihood, Peace and Governance, and Synergy (ARMM-HELPS) program.
In each village, Hataman said the region will put up a barangay hall, covered court, children’s park, health center and day care center.
The project also includes a livelihood program that will be chosen by the villagers themselves through the community driven development (CDD) approach, Hataman said.
Through ARMM-HELPS, the regional government will be investing a total of P10 million in each identified villages or a total of 50 pilot barangays all over the region with 10 in each of the five component provinces.
The P500 million fund allocated for the project is included in ARMM’s 2014 general appropriations.
Basic government services are mostly scarce in these communities. The town of Pandag is one of the municipalities in ARMM that don’t have internal revenue allotment (IRA).
“We want to bring government service to these communities and uplift the living condition of its people,” Hataman said.
During the groundbreaking rites, a number of villagers were happy to see high-ranking government officials, led by Hataman, come to their place for the first time with a package of assistance meant to improve their lives.
Zabidee Abdullah, 46, a farmer and father of six in Pandag, said they all look forward to the completion of the projects.
“We are thankful to the ARMM government. This is really a big help,” Abdullah said in vernacular.
Hataman said these projects are set to compliment the upcoming Bangsamoro government as a result of the government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) peace process.
Hataman, appointed by President Aquino to institute reforms in the graft-ridden but natural rich region, has repeatedly declared he will automatically step down when the new Bangsamoro political entity officials assume office in 2016.
==DA’s BUB implementation rolls out in ARMM==
*Source:http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?nid=2&rid=632335
*Friday, April 4, 2014
:(PNA), FPV/NYP/
COTABATO CITY, April 4 (PNA) - - The Department of Agriculture’s Php 1-billion Bottoms Up Budget (BUB) program for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is gaining ground among its constituency.
Lawyer Macmod Mending Jr., ARMM agriculture, secretary, chief, said on Friday that several local government units in the region have started the implementation of livelihood and infrastructure projects funded thru the BUB, also known as Grassroots Participatory Budgeting, after local chief executives have complied with the compulsory requirements and received checks corresponding to their project costs.
The Php 1 billion BUB initiative would bankroll the implementation of 338 proposed livelihood and infrastructure projects in the 104 LGUs in the region earlier identified by the Local Poverty Reduction Action Team (LPRAT) together with the National Anti-Poverty Commission and civil society organizations.
The first batch of local chief executives who received the BUB checks were eight LGUs in Lanao del Sur in the total amount of Php 40.3M and another Php 9.0 million worth of checks for the three LGUs in Maguindanao awarded by DA Secretary Proceso Alcala in the presence of Regional Governor Mujiv Hataman and Mending during the Farmers and Fisherfolks’ Forum held last Feb. 28 in Marawi City and Parang, Maguindanao.
The eight LGUs in Lanao del Sur covered by the BUB implementation include the Municipalities of Ditsaan, Ramain, Taraka, Sultan Dumalondong, Piagapo, Calanogas, Bumbaran and Balindong.
The BUB operation also covered the towns of Parang, Buldon and Barira in Maguindanao.
Late last month, another transfer of BUB funds to the LGUs took place at the Astana Conference Hall inside the ARMM compound in this city.
Checks amounting to PHp16, 754,000 have been awarded by ARMM Executive Secretary Atty. Laisa Alamia and Mending to the five mayors of Lanao del Sur namely Mamintal Razuman of Lumbatan (P4.1M for farm-to-market road and PHp 350,000 for livelihood project); Sahrodin Ampatua of Bayang ( PHp 2.5M FMR and P392,000 livelihood); Jamal Manabilang of Bumbaran (PHp 250,000 cabality training and P1.5M livelihood); Jamal Asum of Lumbayonague (P6.0M FMR) and Misangcud Capal of Tagoluan (PHp 1.66M FMR ).
Mending urged local chief executives whose municipalities are covered by the BUB to submit immediately to the DA-regional office their project proposals, requirements and other documents for the release of corresponding project cost.
==Kidnapped school principal freed; public pressure helped, say local execs==
*Source:http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/591593/kidnapped-school-principal-freed-public-pressure-helped-say-local-execs
*Thursday, April 3, 2014 8:41 pm
:By Julie S. Alipala (Inquirer Mindanao)
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — A kidnapped school principal was freed by her abductors in Sumisip, Basilan, on Thursday afternoon, police said.
Freed was Betina Latonio, principal of the Manggal Elementary School, who was kidnapped by armed men while she was on her way to school on March 31.
Nuriya Jamaldin, the north district school supervisor, said the 62-year-old Latonio was released where she was taken, in the village of Libug in Sumisip.
“She was just sitting along the streets,” Jamaldin said.
Jamaldin said that a day after Latonio was abducted, kidnappers demanded a P3-million ransom. She said negotiators told the kidnappers that residents of Sumisip and soldiers would march to the kidnappers’ lair if Latonio was not freed.
Senior Supt. Mario Dapilloza, Basilan police chief, said the release at 5 p.m. was made possible “through the concerted effort of Sumisip Crisis Management Committee led by Mayor Gulam Hataman.”
Latonio was immediately brought to the Municipal Social Welfare Office.
“She is very weak and could hardly walk. She needs immediate medical attention,” Dapilloza said.
Latonio is diabetic, according to Jamaldin.
“She is partially blind and the absence of her medication for three days and three nights aggravated her condition,” Jamaldin added.
Latonio, a native of Talisayan village in Zamboanga City, has been serving in the public school of Sumisip for over 30 years now. She was a teacher of ARMM Governor Mujiv Hataman.
==Marines to pull out from Cotabato; Army SFB to come in==
*Source:http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?nid=2&rid=631601
*Wednesday, April 2, 2014
:(PNA), LAP/NYP/
COTABATO CITY, April 2 (PNA) -- After augmenting security forces in this city for nearly four years, the 350-strong Marine Battalion Landing Team – 1 is set to leave Cotabato City this weekend for a new assignment.
Replacing the task vacated by the MBLT-1 here is a 5th Special Forces Battalion (SFB) from the Philippine Army, an equally potent force against lawless elements.
The MBLT-1 has been instrumental in the neutralization of kidnapping syndicates operating in this city and the near environs that had preyed on a number of local Filipino-Chinese traders, among others, over the past several years.
“We, Cotabateños, are saddened by the impending departure of the Marines here. The city would not be as it is today, a first class urban center, if not for the vigilance of the community and the Marines against criminality,” Mayor Japal Guiani Jr. said.
Still, Guiani added, the city welcomes much the entry of the 5th SFB as deterrent against criminal groups in the locality.
Lt. Col. Ronaldo Juan, MBLT-1 commander, said a company-size unit of Marine troopers would be retained to help the SFB familiarize with security procedures the Marines undertook here during the duration of their stay.
Initial reports said the MBLT-1 would be assigned in the island-province of Basilan, a component area of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
A turnover ceremony is set to take place between the MBLT-1 and 5th SFB on April 5.
==Improve literacy, linkages in Bangsamoro to contribute in economic growth -- ADB==
*Source:http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?nid=3&rid=631296
*Tuesday, April 1, 2014
:(PNA),PDS/NYP
MANILA, April 1 (PNA) -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has urged the government to improve education and enhance linkages in the Bangsamoro in order to unleash the area’s potential to contribute in the economic growth of the country.
ADB Country Specialist Joven Balbosa said in a briefing Tuesday that the Bangsamoro area can share further to the contribution of Mindanao in the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) after the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro took place last week.
He mentioned that other parts of Mindanao like General Santos, Cagayan de Oro, and Davao region, among others, have been contributing to economic activities of the country.
”Unleashing that growth potential requires time and so you will have to know what the resources Bangsamoro has,” told Balbosa.
He mentioned the strategic location of Bangsamoro as a gateway to ASEAN countries particularly in Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, and Malaysia wherein the government shall develop linkages to these areas.
Investments in ports and quality roads will be the key infrastructures to enhance connectivity and beef up trade activities in the Bangsamoro, added Balbosa.
Moreover, the ADB economist stressed that the government shall bridge the literacy gap in the Muslim region.
Data of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) shows that from the year 2000 to 2008, the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) or the Bangsamoro area has the lowest literacy rate among the 17 regions of the country.
ARMM had 81.5 percent literacy rate in 2008, from 2003’s literacy rate of 70.2 percent, and from 2000’s rate of 68.7 percent.
”On adult literacy, it’s really bridging the gap among about 300,000 illiterates in the area and linking them to productive livelihood training and job matching across the country,” Balbosa further cited on how the Bangsamoro can unleash its economic potentials.
Meanwhile, ADB Philippine Country Office Director Richard Bolt noted that the final signing of peace deal can attract investments in the Bangsamoro as investors appreciate the stability of an area where their investments are put in.
The ADB officials cited key investments that will strengthen the economic growth in Bangsamoro. These are in sectors of infrastructure, agriculture, and agri-products processing.
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