P650-M in unused ARMM infra subsidies discovered

COTABATO CITY — Impoverished villagers in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) got what are for them "riziq wa barakah (graces and blessings)" this Ramadhan in the form of unspent, "nearly forgotten" P650 million worth of subsidies for high-impact infrastructure projects.

Engineer Rasul Abpi, the new steward of the ARMM’s Department of Public Works and Highways, said the total grant is comprised of unused infrastructure subsidies received by past administrations, which all failed to spend the funds for appropriate projects due to lack of technical expertise in documenting comprehensive project packages for the region’s poor communities.

"We consider this grace, having found out that we still have practically almost forgotten huge funding packages while we are observing the Ramadhan, the month where we fast during the day for one month as a religious obligation," Abpi told The STAR.

After discovering the unspent funds last week, Abpi said Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan immediately mobilized all his legal and administrative advisers "to support my office in planning out new infrastructure packages for poor communities in the ARMM."

"We are also ordered to ensure transparency in the handling of the unspent funds," Abpi said.

Abpi, who assumed his post two weeks ago, said they have started releasing partial grants to recipient-provinces through a multilateral implementation scheme covered by memoranda of agreement (MOAs) among the DPWH-ARMM, its district offices and the provincial governors.

The ARMM covers Marawi City, Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, both in Central Mindanao, and the island-provinces of Sulu, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi.

The initial grants, according to Abpi, will be earmarked for mobilization expenses needed in carrying out the projects.

Abpi said the MOAs will not only ensure "religious" implementation of the infrastructure projects, but will also guarantee the transparent handling of the grants by the entities involved.

The projects will include bridges, farm-to-market roads, post-harvest facilities and other infrastructure that can improve the productivity of farmers and fishermen in the autonomous region.

"These projects will complement President Arroyo’s Southern Mindanao peace process, which is centered on accelerating the socio-economic growth of the ARMM’s marginalized sectors as one of the viable means of addressing local peace and order problems," Ampatuan said in a statement.

Ampatuan has directed the finance and budget departments of the DPWH-ARMM to open their books of accounts and bank records for inspection anytime by the region’s solicitor-general and resident Ombudsman, lawyer Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi, and the regional executive secretary, Oscar Sampulna, both tasked to help oversee the utilization of the P650-million infrastructure seed money.