Joint MILF, gov't program now has 639 scholars

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines - The Sajahatra Bangsamoro joint peace and development program of the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) now has 639 college scholars, mostly children of the rebels.

The GPH and MILF panels announced on Tuesday, after a presentation on Sajahatra services at the Bangsamoro Leadership Management Institute in Simuay District in Sultan Kudarat, that aside from the scholarship grants, 11,000 Moro folks have been assisted to become members of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation under the joint socio-economic initiative.

The Sajahatra program, launched jointly in February 2013 by President Benigno Aquino III and the MILF’s Al-Haj Murad, aims to hasten the delivery of government services to underdeveloped Moro communities in Southern Mindanao.

Murad was among the initial batch of MILF members awarded with Philhealth membership cards during last year's Sajahatra launching.

Government chief negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer and her counterpart in the MILF, Muhaquer Iqbal, were among the special guests in Tuesday's Sajahatra presentation program.

In a press conference after the event, Ferrer told reporters that the joint socio-economic initiatives of the government and the MILF have been gaining headway and that both sides have closely been working together to achieve the Sajahatra objectives.