ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) turned over to Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao officer-in-charge (OIC)-Vice Governor Bainon Karon a check worth P62 million for the construction of some 2,340 shelters for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Maguindanao.

OPAPP Secretary Teresita Deles said this is under the PAMANA or Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (Peaceful and Resilient Communities) program where the shelters will be constructed for families displaced by armed skirmishes between government forces and lawless elements led by former MILF Commanders Ustadz Ameril Umra Kato and Bravo in August 2008.

The shelters are expected to be completed within four months in five municipalities and 11 villages in Maguindanao.

These municipalities include Talayan, Datu Anggal Midtimbang, Datu Piang, Datu Saudi Ampatuan, and Datu Salibo.

The IDP Shelter Assistance Project, which provides basic housing facilities to displaced families in conflict-affected areas, is a project under Pillar 1 of the PAMANA program.

PAMANA, a complementary track to peace negotiations, is the government’s peace and development framework that seeks to reduce poverty, improve governance, and empower communities through community-driven projects that address people’s needs and, at the same time, promote peace.

Deles emphasized that “the government is sincerely committed to winning peace, not only on the peace negotiating table, but also on the ground especially in conflict-affected communities, in order for them to have a stake in sustaining peace.”

Meanwhile, OPAPP has allotted some P30 million to improve underdeveloped areas or communities occupied by former fighters of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in the province of Sulu.

Sulu Governor Abdusakur M. Tan recently met with OPAPP Director Susana Marcaida and Brigadier General Gerardo Layug and discussed with them measures on how the national government, in cooperation with the provincial government of Sulu, can improve the life of the people in the affected community.

Marcaida said about P1.5 million worth of soft project assistance per municipality will be given by the OPAPP to jumpstart development and improve the living conditions of inhabitants of concerned areas.

Tan said that MNLF areas will be developed, and assured that the provincial government is ready to assist OPAPP in providing opportunities and improve the lives of our MNLF brothers.

As this developed, mayors of all towns in Sulu thanked President Aquino for the assistance intended for the improvement of their respective depressed communities.