THE government last week turned over one of the six rural health center units (RHUs) constructed within the recognized former camps of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity (OPAPRU) said yesterday.
The health center, located in Camp Bushra in Barangay Sandab in Butig, Lanao Del Sur, is part of the P57 million RHU project which aims to provide a comprehensive delivery of healthcare services to the community.
It includes a birthing facility and delivery room, pharmacy, minor surgical room, pathology room, dental room, examination room, x-ray room, laboratory, and doctor’s office and could cater to 5,000 individuals, including more than 500 decommissioned MILF combatants residing in Camp Bushra and adjacent communities.
OPARU said the RHU is one of the socio-economic programs for decommissioned combatants (DCs) and their communities and a total of six such facilities were to be built in the MILF camps. The rest are to be turned over in the coming weeks.
It was undertaken through the joint efforts of the OPAPRU, the Department of Health (DOH), and the Bangsamoro Ministry of Health (MOH).
The turnover of the RHU in Camp Bushra was held during the Inter-Cabinet Cluster Mechanism on Normalization (ICCMN) Service Caravan in the Lanao region last August 15.
The caravan, a multi-agency initiative held to deliver essential government services and various socioeconomic initiatives to MILF communities in Camp Bushra and Camp Bilal in Lanao del Norte, benefited at least 2,000 individuals from each of the camps.
It provided medical services such as 1,425 general checkups with free medicine,197 circumcisions, 30 minor operations, 75 dental care checkups, 37 pediatric checkups, 575 eye check-ups with free eyeglasses, and distributed 100 dental kits, 500 hygiene kits, 20 breastfeeding kits, and 47 assistive devices such as wheelchairs.
The caravan also provided social protection aid that included assistance to get Philippine Health Corporation (PhilHealth) identification cards, applications and registration; Philippine system registrations, birth registrations and civil documents access; passport and consular services; livelihood aid for the renewal and registration of local associations and cooperatives; and distribution of seedlings, among others.
Some 2,000 E-Nutribuns were distributed to children along with toys while one school in Camp Bushra was awarded a School-in-a-Bag package by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), which included one laptop, 10 tablets, and LTE devices.
Orientation and literacy training on cybersecurity awareness, digitalization and use of the electronic government application was also conducted along with the installation of internet access points through Starlink for the NGAs in the Caravan.
The caravan also helped facilitate the amnesty application of 21 MILF members while the orientation of Transitional Justice and Reconciliation was also conducted.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) also provided 59 haircuts, while local vendors offered various items, including Palapa – a homemade spice produced in Lanao del Sur.
The AFP conducted a briefing for 150 individuals for its IEC on AFP Enlistment, the PNP assisted 188 individuals on its recruitment process and firearms registration, and the Fondation Suisse de Deminage (FSDl) provided Explosive Ordnance Risk Education (EORE) to 577 individuals.
OPAPRU head Secretary Carlito G. Galvez Jr., and AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. highlighted the importance of the caravan in boosting the government’s peacebuilding and development efforts in Bangsamoro.
“This caravan is a testament to the government’s commitment to the Normalization Program under the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB). The program aims to transform previously acknowledged MILF camps into thriving communities,” Galvez said.
Brawner said the caravan demonstrates the government’s commitment to ensuring that former combatants and their communities receive the necessary support for their transition to civilian life and for rebuilding their communities.”
In a message from Special Assistant to the President, Secretary Antonio Ernesto Lagdameo Jr., represented by Assistant Secretary Ria Lumapas, reaffirmed the administration’s support for the Bangsamoro region and providing essential services to the MILF members and their families to empower them and ensure their inclusion in the peacebuilding process.
“This is also in line with the mission of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to bring the government closer to the people by ensuring that government services are accessed by Filipinos in every part of the country,” he added.
