THE Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity (OPAPRU) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) recently handed over 200 housing units to Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) communities in Sibuco, Zamboanga del Norte.
The initiative was part of the PAyapa at MAsaganang PamayaNAn–Modified Shelter Assistance Program or PAMANA-MSAP which aims to provide decent housing and sustainable livelihood support to MNLF members.
The PAMANA-MSAP is implemented through a partnership between the OPAPRU and the DSWD.
The program includes a cash-for-work component, enabling beneficiaries to earn while participating in the construction of their homes.
OPAPRU and DSWD officials emphasized the importance of integrating these communities into mainstream society and improving their socioeconomic conditions.
“We were really targeting Zamboanga peninsula because there are IPs (indigenous peoples there, our brothers who are Moros—MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front), MNLF (Muslim National Liberation Front) and isolated areas,” Peace Process Presidential Adviser Carlito Galvez Jr. said in Filipino.
”That is where government assistance is needed the most,” he added.
Similar housing units were delivered to MNLF communities in Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay.
The broader goal is to foster peace and development in conflict-hit areas.
The town of Sibuco forms part of what is known as the Triple SB or Sibuco, Sirawai, Siocon, and Baliguian.
These areas have been known before as the hotbed of criminalities, where the kidnappers used to take their captives.
