Maguindanao gov't to hold relief ops in Mamasapano

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines - Officials on Monday will distribute toys and relief goods to children and residents in Maguindanao’s Mamasapano town to reassure local folks the government is keen on addressing underdevelopment in the area.

Mamasapano, located in the second district of Maguindanao, was the scene of the deadly Jan. 25, 2015 “Mamasapano incident.”

At least 44 operatives of the police’s Special Action Force, 17 members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and five innocent civilians perished in the carnage, which shook the nation to its core and challenged the now 19-year government-MILF peace overture.

“This relief mission should remind us that we, as a community, should prevent that incident from happening again anywhere in the province,” Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu, who will lead Monday’s humanitarian mission in the municipality, said.

Provincial Budget Officer Lynette Estandarte, also chief of Maguindano’s emergency and disaster response team, said they will transport the relief supplies to Barangay Tukanalipao in Mamasapano early Monday, January 25, the first anniversary of the incident. 

The office of Mangudadatu had earlier launched the construction of a covered court in Barangay Tukanalipao to complement the infrastructure projects there of the executive department of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman, his public works secretary, Don Mustapha Loong, and Engineer Zainal Mlok of Maguindanao’s 2nd District Engineering Office, had built a bridge, farm-to-market roads, school buildings, and water systems in different barangays in Mamasapano from February to December 2015.

The implementation of the ARMM’s close to P100 million worth of projects was part of Hataman’s effort to hasten the recovery of local folks from the adverse impact of the Mamasapano incident.