COTABATO CITY (PIA) -- A total of 100 families from the municipalities of Matanog and Parang in Maguindanao del Norte will soon have their own houses through a program of the Bangsamoro autonomous government.
On Feb. 20, the Ministry of Human Settlements and Development (MHSD-BARMM) signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the local chief executives of the two towns for the housing projects.
MHSD Minister Hamid Aminoddin Barra described the agreement with the local government units as symbolizing the commitment and support of the Bangsamoro government to provide decent homes for poor families in the areas.
“We are proving that we can handle and do our job, which fuels us in the MHSD to do our work for the BARMM,” he said.
In Matanog, the 50 housing units valued at P43,717,800 funded under the BARMM-Special Development Fund CY 2022 will have a concrete arch entranceway and a solar-powered water system level III.
The 50 other housing units worth P38,857,500 for the town of Parang will be funded under the 2024 General Appropriations Act of the Bangsamoro.
According to Barra, both housing projects will rise in a 48-square-meter area comprising three bedrooms, an outdoor kitchen area, a living-dining area, and one bathroom.
“Of the 1,800 housing units expected for implementation by the MHSD this year, 900 will rise within the BARMM—600 for the transformation of acknowledged Moro Islamic Liberation Front camps into communities, while 300 are outside the region where Bangsamoro people also reside,” he added.
Meanwhile, Mayor Zohria Bansil-Guro of Matanog and Mayor Cahar Ibay of Parang expressed their gratitude to the Bangsamoro government through the MHSD for their support and provision of housing projects for poor families in their respective municipalities.
“The housing project will ultimately serve our people and will continue to enhance social service delivery,” Guro said.
Ibay, on the other hand, pledged his full support to the Bangsamoro government, commending its effort to prioritize the needs of the Bangsamoro people above all else.
“Itong project natin, kung ano ‘yung wala diyan—talagang pagsisikapan namin na mapaganda ‘yan,” said Ibay.
[Whatever is lacking in the project, we will really try to complement it and make it better.]
Since 2020, the MHSD has implemented 643 housing units across the region, with an additional 550 units implemented this year, 150 of which are built in Maguindanao. (LTB - PIA Cotabato City)
