Changing lives: Footbridge links ex-MNLF combatants to progress

PAGLAT, Maguindanao — It wasn’t too long ago when every school day, elementary students here, children of former combatants of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), would shed their school uniforms upon reaching the banks of the Buluan River, and with their outstretched hands, hold aloft their schoolbags and shoes while gingerly swimming to the shores of Barangay Damakling.

After successfully traversing the 30-meter distance, they patted their bodies dry, donned their uniforms and made it in time for school at about 7:30 in the morning. After school, the ritual was repeated when it was time to go home. 

There were no motorized banca rides for these children. Only the local producers and traders could afford them at P25 per person, and they paid higher, of course, for them to be able to transport their goods such as rice, corn, vegetables, chickens, pigs, fish and construction materials to the other side and sell them in Barangay Damakling and nearby areas.

Life could not be more severe for this town which became a refuge for those displaced by years of fighting between the military and Muslim rebels.

The Buluan River, which leads to the Rio Grande River, was often used by the warring armies to get to the war zone in Liguasan Marsh, only a kilometer away from this town.

"It was difficult to start all over, but we had no choice but to go on. Until now, we are still building and rebuilding," says Mayor Datu Abs Langkuno.

Since Paglat’s first local elections in 2004, which Langkuno won after returning from a 15-year stint as an engineer for a construction company in Thailand, it has been a long process of reconstruction and renewal for its conflict-weary residents.

Perhaps, the most concrete evidence of transformation taking place here is the newly built 64-meter footbridge with a 10-metric ton capacity. Students no longer have to endure the nasty swim day after day just to go to class. Farmers can easily load their goods in their padyak tricycles and use the footbridge to get to Damakling. It takes less than five minutes to get to either side.

The footbridge was constructed under the Community Infrastructure Program (CIP) of Growth with Equity in Mindanao-2 (GEM-2), a program funded by the United States Agency for International Development.

Under the CIP, GEM-2 is targeting to complete in the next two years 680 small infrastructure projects such as water systems, solar dryers, boat landings, trading centers, culverts, bridges and roads.

Majority of these projects are being carried out in conflict-affected areas in Mindanao in collaboration with local government units, community groups, associations and cooperatives.

"Our proposal to put up a footbridge got the overwhelming approval of the residents after a series of public consultations. We got everyone to participate and while some expressed reservations, saying the footbridge might be used when fighting occurs, they understood that we had a lot more to gain from the project," recalls Langkuno.

For the first time, residents of Paglat and Damakling felt a sense of community and worked together to make the project happen. They took care of land acquisition, site clearing, demolition and relocation of existing structures, opening/upgrading of the 1.6-kilometer access road connecting to the footbridge, site location and securing of permit for the permanent steel marker and other government permits, and project documentation.

GEM-2 provided P2.136 million while the proponent’s counterpart was about P600,000.

Last February, the footbridge was opened to the public. "The changes are obvious. It’s safer for students to go to their classes. Residents and farmers from both towns save time, energy and transport costs by using the footbridge. It used to be that the alternate route without the access road to the footbridge, required farmers to travel about 10 kilometers to reach the national highway; now traveling means just one kilometer to get to the poblacion. Everything has become more accessible and convenient," says Langkuno.

The footbridge project is also inspiring local government officials like Langkuno to work with the officials of nearby barangays in planning bigger infrastructure projects for their communities.

Langkuno says his master development plan for Paglat includes collaborating with other local government officials to construct a bridge to connect Paglat to other towns and accommodate larger vehicles, while building more access roads to facilitate faster trading, and constructing drainage canals, boat landings, toilets, and water systems for irrigation and potable water.

"I keep emphasizing to residents and barangay officials that while we have donor agencies helping us get back on our feet, we should take the initiative to come up with basic infrastructure projects so we could sustain the gains we have achieved in recent years. I think we all agree that peace can be better sustained with development," says Langkuno.