BASILAN, Philippines - The executive department of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) on Friday allocated P70 million for road projects in five areas in Basilan in support of the socioeconomic agenda of the southern peace process.
The projects are to be constructed using funds from the agriculture department, whose functions were devolved to ARMM based on its charter, the Republic Act 9054.
The proposed arterial networks are to be constructed jointly by recipient local governments units and the office of engineer Soler Undog, chief of the Basilan District Engineering Office (DEO).
The projects are to be implemented via memoranda of agreement (MOAs) between the office of ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman and the chief executives of Lamitan City and the municipalities of Tipo-Tipo, Ungkaya Pukan, Tuburan and Sumisip.
The city government of Lamitan and the Basilan DEO are jointly implementing more than P500 million worth of infrastructure projects in the area using allocations from the ARMM’s 2013, 2014 and 2015 annual infrastructure subsidies.
Hataman said the new Basilan road projects, bankrolled by the Department of Agriculture, shall be implemented with utmost transparency to keep the public abreast on how infrastructure funds intended for ARMM are being spent.
Lamitan City Mayor Rose Furigay, who signed a project MOA between her office and the executive department of ARMM, said she is thankful to Hataman and President Benigno Aquino III for entrusting huge amounts of peace and development funds to her administration.
Furigay said she is also grateful to Undog for his active hands-on involvement in the implementation costly ARMM infrastructure projects in Lamitan City.
The ARMM government has about P3 billion worth of current infrastructure projects in Basilan, being administered jointly by Hataman, Undog and the region’s public works secretary, Engineer Don Mustapha Loong.
Besides Basilan, the autonomous region also covers Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, which are both in mainland Mindanao, and the island provinces of Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.