A banana plantation in Datu Abdullah Sangki, Maguindanao, whose employees are 80 percent of the locals. (Photo courtesy of DASLGU)
DATU ABDULLAH SANGKI, Maguindanao — When Mariam Sangki-Mangudadatu won the elections as mayor of this town of 28,000 people in 2013, its state was so bad that seven out of 10 families were poor.
Violence would occasionally erupt between the Muslim and Christian settlers; and also between some residents and that of nearby Esperanza, Sultan Kudarat province.
Compounding the problem was the on and off clashes between government troops and Moro rebels.
Bai Sandra Sema, the congressman of Maguindanao's first district, recounted that years after it was put up as a separate municipality from the town of Ampatuan in mid 2004, people hardly noticed that this town existed.
“People passed by and never noticed that there is a town that bordered Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat. There was barely any indication of a town,” Sema said in her speech at the town's 14th founding anniversary on Monday.
Fast forward 14 years later, Sema said no one would miss this town anymore as they traverse between Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat province.
“This gym alone is an eye catcher,” she said of the steel structure that served as a multi-purpose hall for the town, right at the back of the two-storey town police station building.
On Monday, the gym was put to use for the first time as this town celebrated its 4th Kagalawan (Revelry) festival.
“Some would say Bai Mariam is a superwoman, I would say she is a mother who nurtured your town like her own child,” Sema added.
Sangki-Mangudadatu, a mother of three, said in a separate speech that the first thing she did when she became mayor was to settle the differences between residents of the town and that of nearby areas through dialogues — with the help of Sultan Kudarat officials, headed by her father-in-law, Gov. Sultan Pax Mangudadatu and her husband, Rep. Suharto Mangudadatu.
The differences stemmed out from land issues and most of them have been settled through negotiations, she said.
While negotiations were being conducted, Sangki-Mangudadatu said she and the town's officials also started massive concreting and rehabilitation of roads, especially those leading to inner villages — using local funds and assistance from lawmakers.
“Now, the seven pool springs are very accessible,” she said of the recently-discovered summer destination in sitio Binasang in Barangay Talisawa.
The paving of the road towards the Teduray community made the town's wonder very accessible that it would now take one only 15 minutes by vehicle from the national highway to the area, unlike in the past that visiting the seven pools seemed to take forever.
“We are developing this into a tourist destination,” she added.
To further help the local economy, Sangki-Mangudadatu said town officials, with the help of the Sangguniang Bayan, required investors to hire 80 percent of their manpower from the locality.
“Now, there are 500 locals employed in local businesses and that really helped,” she said.
Others who have not found jobs in local firms such as Delinanas, which maintains a banana plantation here, have been taught skills they could use to start livelihood with.
“We have trained them on massage therapy, hair dressing and other skills,” she said.
As of today, the 220-km2 6th class farming municipality of 10 villages is still far from what is considered a prosperous area but things have improved a lot.
“Three out of the seven poor people of the past have graduated and are now able to support their families,” Sangki-Mangudadatu reported.
The town also won the Department of the Interior and Local Government's Seal of Good Local Governance in 2017, a testament to its improvement, she added.
“We still have a long way to go but with the help of our people themselves, we will make this town economically prosperous and a model for other Maguindanao areas,” she added.
Sema said determination among officials would certainly help the town in its bid to become one of Maguindanao's progressive areas.
“Of course that determination would be naught if the people themselves are not cooperative,” she added.
“No superwoman can do it unless you help,” she said. (PNA)
