World Bank finds projects in ARMM ‘satisfactory’

COTABATO CITY — Satisfactory.

This was how the World Bank has rated all its ongoing socio-economic projects in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), mostly designed to complement the Southern peace process.

The World Bank, with the help of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation and Malacañang, is funding humanitarian activities in the autonomous region through the ARMM Social Fund Project (ASFP).

Roberto Tordecilla, World Bank’s social officer in the Philippines, inspected the ASFP projects in the autonomous region last week and found out that all of them were being implemented according to specifications.

The ASFP is building farm-to-market roads, postharvest facilities and other community-based projects needed to improve the productivity of farmers in remote communities, including members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Tordecilla said their tour of the ARMM to evaluate the ASFP projects was part of a "quality assessment" being carried out by the World Bank’s team leader in the Philippines, Mary Judd.

Tordicella was elated with their findings on how the ASFP is implementing the World Bank-assisted projects in the ARMM.

Lawyer Arnel Datukon, ASFP manager, said the World Bank has ranked its ARMM projects as "satisfactory."

ARMM Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan, chairman of the regional economic planning and development board, exercises ministerial control over the ASFP.

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

Datukon said there have been considerable improvements now in areas where they have built agricultural facilities for Muslim farmers and farm-to-market roads linking their communities to the trading centers.

The ARMM’s trade department listed 420 applications for new businesses in the autonomous region from October last year to May 2006, a threefold increase from the two previous years.

Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, civil-relations chief of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said that since December 2005, more than 200 Moro rebels in Central Mindanao have availed themselves of the government’s reconciliation program after seeing ASFP projects rise in their villages.

"The projects generated employment and livelihood opportunities, so they decided to return to the fold of the law for them to freely engage in various legitimate activities that can provide them income," Ando said.

Last month, the World Bank and the Philippine government provided an additional grant of more than P400 million to implement more ASFP projects.