NORTH UPI, Maguindanao, Philippines – Indigent pupils of the equally underprivileged Katiguesen Elementary School in Barangay Kibukay here tagged the 39-year-old Ansaruddin Alonto Adiong as a “caring big brother” in tribute to his being the first top executive of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) to have stepped on their village and poured in the much-needed assistance.

“We consider him now our caring big brother…he is the first ARMM governor to have come to our remote village and gave us assistance that we will always treasure about him,” Grade 5 pupil Samuel Egas said in Pilipino of Adiong and his visit to the school Saturday.

Egas is one of almost 100 elementary pupils provided with school bags containing pens, pencils, paper, and other supplies by a team led by Adiong in conjunction with the groundbreaking ceremony of a three-classroom building project on the underserved school ground.

On the same rites, Adiong also inaugurated a school stage, replacing the dilapidated structure where a teacher and some pupils stumbled and sustained minor fractures due to pot holes on its old wooden flooring.

The ARMM chief executive, who is set for replacement by an officer-in-charge to be installed by President Aquino on October 1, also drew appreciation from villagers for launching works on a water-impounding project expected to end the residents’ rigors in fetching potable water from distant springs in this hilly town.

Elder residents led by Mayor Ramon Piang described as “necessary” the provision of the additional school building, a campus stage, school bags, and the water-impounding project for the present and future welfare of the local residents.

All such provisions drew subsidies from the ARMM governor’s special purpose fund, which the regional chief executive has been using partly for his administration’s “adopt-a-school” program, and intervening efforts for the early recovery of internally displaced persons, mostly in conflict-affected towns of Maguindanao.

Piang also expressed his gratitude for the education-uplifting partnership of the ARMM and the Army’s 6th Infantry Division (6ID).

“No person can line long without water…and no child can have a bright future without proper education,” Piang said.

After the ceremonies here, Adiong and 6ID chief Brig. Gen. Rey Ardo forged a Memorandum of Agreement formalizing the seven-month partnership of the ARMM governance and the Army division’s Task Force Bigkis Lahi (TFBL), which provides its soldiers’ free services in repairing and construction school buildings and other structures sought by villagers.

Adiong and Ardo were accompanied by other ARMM and military officials, including Regional Education Secretary Baratucal Caudang and Executive Secretary Naguib Sinarimbo, and TFBL head Lt. Col. Antonio Arriba.