JOLO, Sulu, Philippines  – The long-awaited construction of 100 houses for displaced flood victims here and nearby areas has began after the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) forged a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with an Army engineering unit tasked to carry out the project.

Regional Social Welfare head Pombaen K. Kader, representing Acting ARMM Governor Ansaruddin Adiong, and Maj. Gen. Carlos Holganza, chief of the National Development Support Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, signed the MoA last Thursday at the provincial capitol in Patikul, Sulu.

The proposed 100 core shelter units costs P100,000 for a total of P10-million to be taken from the ARMM governor’s Special Purpose Fund, Kader said.

She said the beneficiaries of the housing project are residents of Barangay Anuling in Patikul town whose houses were swept away by floods in February this year.

“Because Acting Governor Adiong wants the houses constructed sans the usual threats of local lawless elements and red tape, we opted to tap the military engineering group to construct the units swiftly,” Kader said.

She said the 55th Engineer Brigade led by Gen. Michaelo Salvalleon will construct the houses.

ARMM Executive Secretary Naguib G. Sinarimbo, Sulu Governor Sakur Tan and Jolo Provincial Social Welfare Officer Maydelyn Bahjin visited the site for the construction of housing units last May.

During the visit, social welfare workers conducted supplementary feeding for 299 children in day care centers in Poblacion Maimbung and 330 day care center children in Laum Maimbung, Kader said.

The visiting ARMM team also distributed checks under the Cash for Work Program for fisher folk during the same field visit, she said.