74 internally displaced Moro families receive colorful houses in Maguindanao del Sur

COTABATO CITY — A total of 74 marginalized Moro families, repeatedly displaced by armed conflicts over the years, are up for relocation to a village established for them by an agency of the Bangsamoro government.

Local officials in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao del Sur told reporters on Sunday that the 74 families would be settled in the houses built for them in Barangay Salman by the Ministry of Social Services and Development-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Their new colorful houses are not too distant from their farms where they raise upland rice varieties, corn and other short-term crops as means of livelihood.

Barangay officials in Salman said that the houses were turned over last April 30 to beneficiaries, who shall soon occupy the units after full electrification of the entire village and the setting up of a water supply system for occupants.

BARMM’s social services minister, Raissa Jajurie, said THAT she is thankful to the local government unit of Ampatuan for having donated the land where the 74 houses were constructed.

“This housing project is for families that have suffered a lot from recurrent displacement due to peace and security issues,” Jajurie said.

Norhaya Panguilan Alim, one of the beneficiaries of the housing project, told reporters that they now have a decent house, after evacuating from one barangay to another in the past two decades due to clashes between Moro secessionist groups and state security forces.

"We can't thank the Bangsamoro government and our local government unit enough for cooperating in implementing this housing project." Alim said in Filipino, in a Maguindanaon accent.

Costing P500,000 per unit, the 74 houses built by the MSSD-BARMM in Barangay Salman, an agricultural enclave in Ampatuan town, can accommodate seven to ten persons, according to beneficiaries.