‘PROJECT TABANG’. Lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo (second left), interior minister of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, hands over a relief pack to one of the beneficiaries during an outreach mission under “Project Tabang” in Barangay Pidsandawan, Mamasapano, Maguindanao on Monday (Sept. 2, 2019). (Photo courtesy of BPI-BARMM)
COTABATO CITY -- Over 3,000 indigent residents of three neighboring Maguindanao towns received medical and dental services extended by the Bangsamoro government on Monday.
The event also marked the launching of “Project Tabang” or “Tulong Alay sa mga Bangsamorong Nangangailangan” that extended interventions to residents of the municipalities of Mamasapano, Rajah Buayan, and Shariff Saydona Mustapha, all in Maguindanao’s second district.
The event, held at the Maulana National High School in Barangay Pidsandawan, Mamasapano, involved representatives from various agencies of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) extending health and dental services, free consultation and medicine, circumcision, distribution of eyeglasses to senior citizens, feeding program, legal services, and earthquake drill to students.
Minister Naguib Sinarimbo of the BARMM’s Ministry of the Interior and Local Government led the day-long activity.
Joining Sinarimbo, who heads the BARMM-READI (Rapid Emergency Assistance for Disaster Incidents) office, were Maguindanao Governor Bai Mariam Mangudadatu and Lt. Col. Elmer Boongaling, commander of the Army’s 33rd Infantry Battalion.
“I am happy the government’s health workers came over to provide health services,” Bai Hadja, a senior citizen of Rajah Buayan town, said of the outreach program in Maguindanaon vernacular after receiving a new pair of eyeglasses.
“Project Tabang” was the brainchild of BARMM Chief Minister Murad Ebrahim that aims to bring the Bangsamoro government to the poorest of the poor in the region.
Sinarimbo said similar activities are scheduled in other parts of the BARMM soon. “We are eyeing Marawi City as our next venue of the ‘Tabang’ project,” he said.
The BARMM comprises the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi; the cities of Cotabato, Marawi and Lamitan; and the 63 villages in six towns of North Cotabato. (PNA)
