Conflict-torn Moro barangay receives P25-M worth market building

COTABATO CITY — Residents of an erstwhile hotbed of secessionist movements, among them former Moro guerillas reintegrated into mainstream society, were elated over the new P25 million worth two-storey market building where they can conveniently sell their farm products.

The P25 million worth market building is located in Barangay Binasing, which is under the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao but is in Pigcawayan town Cotabato province in Region 12.

The commander of the Army’s 602^nd Infantry Brigade, Gen. Donald Gumiran, one of the guests during Monday’s inauguration of the market building, told reporters on Tuesday that the infrastructure, built by the Bangsamoro local government ministry, will boost the productivity of farmers and fishermen in Barangay Binasing and improve commerce and trade in the area.

Barangay Binasing is one several barangays in Pigcawayan whose residents voted in favor of the fusion of their dwelling enclaves, where there is presence of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Moro National Liberation Front, with the Bangsamoro core territory during a plebiscite in early 2019.

“This is the kind of project that can help hasten the attainment of the socio-economic goals of the national government’s separate peace process with the MILF and the MNLF,” Gumiran said.

The market building was constructed by the office of BARMM Local Government Minister Naguib Sinarimbo with the help of the Binasing barangay government and the Moro community in the area.

“Part of our programs for this barangay is to capacitate all elected barangay officials, including members of the Sangguniang Kabataan, on governance, delivery of services and entrepreneurship,” Sinarimbo said.

A 60-year-old former MILF guerilla, Rakim Usman Suwieb, said that they will take good care of the market building. They consider it a reparation for the lives of the guerillas who perished in rebel-military clashes in predominantly Moro barangays in Pigcawayan during the 1970s and, subsequently, from 1997 to 2003.

"This is a community property. We are thankful to the BARMM government for this," Suwieb said in Filipino, in an Iranun accent.

A mother of three MILF members, Salima Ontet Malunai, said that she will apply for a permit from the Binasing barangay government to sell in the newly-constructed market the daily catch of his three sons of fresh water fishes from the nearby northern side of the 220,000-hectare Liguasan Delta.

Two agencies of the Bangsamoro government, the Ministry of the Interior and Local Government and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, provided fishermen in Barangay Binasing with small motorized fiberglass fishing boats and gears last year for them to generate bigger earnings needed to sustain the schooling of their children.

In a statement Tuesday, Pigcawayan Mayor Juanito Agustin said that he is grateful that the MILG-BARM constructed a public market building in Barangay Binasing.