Aid agency-funded bridge benefits Samah, Tausug villagers

COTABATO CITY. -- A 132-meter timber footbridge built recently by ethnic Samah and Tausog villagers in Sitangkai Island at the border of Tawi-Tawi and Sabah has benefited the two.

Sitangkai is an island municipality in Tawi-Tawi, a component province of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

The timber footbridge was constructed by villagers, most of them relying on deep sea fishing and propagation of carageenan seaweeds, as a community project bankrolled by the World Bank through a conduit, the ARMM Social Fund Project.

“We are thankful to the World Bank and the ASFP for this timber footbridge project,” said Tawi-Tawi Rep. Ruby Sahali.

The footbridge built the “bayanihan” way by local Samah and Tausog residents traverses dozens of traditional “stilt houses” above shallow sea waters, and connects two villages in Barangay Sipangkot in Sitangkai, touted as one of Tawi-Tawi's most peaceful municipalities.

Villagers that participated in the construction of the footbridge said they learned the value of  teamwork to boost the development of the Samah and Tausog communities.

“They are grateful to all the benefactors of the project. It brought them closer together,” said Harry Muhang, municipal facilitator of ASFP projects for Sitangkai.

Muhang said they are also thankful to the mayor of Sitangkai, and the governor of Tawi-Tawi, Nurbert Sahali, for supporting the implementation of the project. - John Unson