The tables have been turned on the Office of the Presidential Assistant on the Peace Process (OPAPP) when Zamboanga Mayor Beng Climaco accused them of non-coordination on matters pertaining to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
The matter referred to by Climaco was the implementation of the Sajahatra Bangsamoro Program (SBP), a project of the national government providing livelihood programs to MILF communities which had been started in the city of Zamboanga in the year 2013.
In her statement to the OPAPP, Climaco said that there are no MILF communities in Zamboanga city who could become beneficiaries of the program.
“There may be individuals sympathetic to the MILF, but we would like to emphasize that there is no ‘MILF community’ nor do we recognize one in the city,” stated a letter sent by Climaco to Senen Bacani, Peace Negotiating Panel member.
Climaco sent the letter last March 5 after learning about the SBP’s Cash for Work Program being implemented in the city, specifically in barangay Tulungatung.
Climaco also stated that although the project had been started even before the 2013 Zamboanga siege, “that ill-fated incident has left unhealed wounds and scars in the hearts and minds of Zamboanguenos. The presence of groups or individuals purportedly belonging to the MNLF or MILF ushers anxieties, trepidations, and unsettles tranquility in the city.”
In a letter dated March 4 sent by Bacani to Climaco, the former admitted that there had been no coordination between their office and the local government of Zamboanga prior to the implementation of the SBP.
“It was an oversight on our part to not formally inform the city government of our activities. We presumed it was alright as policemen from the City accompanied us,” the letter stated.
Bacani vowed to coordinate with the local government of Zamboanga on future national government programs.
It will be recalled that the bloody Mamasapano incident where 44 personnel of the SAF figured in an encounter with MILF troops was attributed to lack of coordination between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
Bacani defined the SBP as a project of the Office of the President directly agreed between President Benigno S. Aquino III and MILF Chairman Al-Haj Murad Ibrahim which commits to deliver health, education, livelihood services to priority MILF communities and targeted individual beneficiaries that focus on quick gestation, high impact and social protection type of programs.
It also has a Cash for Work program component in partnership with the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the MILF Project Management Team.
The PMT has seven regional offices, including the Zamboanga and Basilan Regional Project Management Team aimed towards coordinating and facilitating ground activities.
In the year 2013, prior to the Zamboanga siege, the Zambas team submitted a list of prospective 100 Cash for Work beneficiaries residing in the barangays of Baliwasan, Cawit, Sta Catalina, Recodo and Campo Islam.
Campo Islam was later changed to barangay Tulungatung after finding out that most of the beneficiaries reside in the area.
On February 17 this year, an orientation on the Cash-for-Work program was held at barangay Tulungatung after a courtesy call to its barangay captain Jojo del Rosario.
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