COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Up to 201 Islamic school teachers and learners in two Bangsamoro towns in Cotabato province received cash aid on Friday, January 10, from benefactors supporting efforts to boost the Madaris education system.
The Madaris education system, which is Islamic in character, promotes interfaith and cultural solidarity among Muslims and non-Muslims in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Radio reports on Saturday, January 11, in Cotabato City and in provinces in Central Mindanao stated that Kadil Monera Sinolinding, Jr., who is a member of the 80-seat Bangsamoro regional parliament, and BARMM’s chief minister, Ahod Balawag Ebrahim, together facilitated the grant on Friday of the cash aid for each of the 84 Madaris teachers and 117 learners in Islamic schools in Old Kaabacan and Kapalawan towns.
Each of the 84 Madaris teachers received P8,000 from the Transitional Development Impact Fund of the office of the physician-ophthalmologist Sinolinding, who is also serving, in concurrent capacity, as BARMM’s regional health minister.
An outreach team from Sinolinding’s office also released a P4,000 grant for each of the 117 Madaris learners from different barangays in both towns during a gathering in Barangay Kayaga in Kabacan, Cotabato on Friday.
The Old Kaabacan and Kapalawan towns are among the eight newly created Bangsamoro towns in Cotabato province in Region 12. The eight towns are inside BARMM’s Special Geographic Area in Cotabato province, whose residents voted in favor of the inclusion of their domains in the autonomous region’s core territory during a plebiscite in 2019.
The beneficiaries of the Madaris education cash aid, among them children of former guerillas of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Moro National Liberation Front, were quoted in radio reports on Saturday as thanking Sinolinding and the region’s top official, Ebrahim, who is MILF's chairman, for providing them with monetary support that they can spend for academic activities.