AFP, TFBM pay tribute to fallen heroes of Marawi siege

MARAWI CITY, Lanao del Sur--The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) gave tribute to the fallen 168 soldiers and policemen who sacrificed their lives to liberate the city from the ISIS-inspired Maute group in 2017.

AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Cirilito Sobejana and TFBM chief Secretary Eduardo Del Rosario led the wreath-laying rites inside the 103rd Infantry Brigade in Kampo Ranao here Sunday, May 23, to honor the bravery and valor of the fallen heroes who fought to restore peace in the city.

"As we continuously reaffirmed our commitment in pursuit of lasting peace and progress in Marawi and the entire country, we shall honor the sacrifices of these men and women as they have offered their lives to fight and liberate our country and our people," said Sobejana during the culmination program for this year's Marawi Week of Peace.

He said the exceptional gallantry and the selfless dedication to duty of the Filipino soldiers who fought in the battleground during the Marawi siege served as an inspiration.

The AFP Chief of Staff also assured Marawi residents that the AFP remains committed in protecting the city.

"Though we have made significant progress in our efforts to bring back peace to Marawi and its people, it remains our primordial responsibility to ensure that peace will be sustained and guarded," he said.

The wreath-laying ceremony has always been a major activity every Marawi Week of Peace to commemorate the bravery of the fallen heroes. This year's commemoration was also highlighted by the planting of 168 golden trumpet tree seedlings in Hadiya village, representing the lives of fallen heroes who sacrificed their lives for lasting peace in the city. (APB/PIA Lanao del Sur)

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DepEd holds tree planting activity to honor Marawi siege fallen heroes

MARAWI CITY, Lanao del Sur–In honor of the 168 soldiers who lost their lives during the 2017 Marawi siege, the Department of Education (DepEd) initiated a tree planting activity in Hadiya Village, one of the resettlement sites in the city.

Deped OPCEN Marawi Deputy Focal Person Ana Zenaida Unte-Alonto said the tree planting is the highlight activity of DepEd in line with the observance of this year’s Marawi Week of Peace.

The tree planting was graced by Task Force Bangon Marawi Chairperson Secretary Eduardo del Rosario, City Mayor Majul Gandamra, and 103rd Infantry Brigade Commander BGen. Jose Maria Cuerpo II.

Del Rosario said the planting of trees representing the 168 fallen heroes is the ultimate honor that they can give to the soldiers who sacrificed their lives so that Marawi will be liberated.

Mayor Gandamra backed up Del Rosario’s message saying the soldiers have perished while protecting residents from the hostilities brought about by the violent extremists who led the destruction of the city.

“This tree planting activity is a symbolic one considering that in many regions of the world trees represent rebirth and growth, while our soldiers have sacrificed their lives protecting the motherland and fellowmen, their martyrdom will not be left unrecognized and the trees that will be planted will symbolize the heroism that they have shown the people of Marawi City and Lanao del Sur, which also paved the way for us to become a better people and rebuild the city,” he said.

The tree planting activity was conducted in partnership with UN-Habitat, 103rd Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army, and local non-government organization Ranao Watch for Empowerment Network Inc. (RAWATEN), which provided golden trumpets tree seedlings.

RAWATEN Inc. Executive Director Johary Ayo said this is their contribution to the rehabilitation of Marawi. “Ito ay aming advocacy sa pangmatagalang kapayapaan. Naisip namin ano ang maitulong namin sa aming gobyerno hindi lang po sa puro reklamo ang mga CSOs,” he added.

(This is our advocacy for sustainable peace. We thought of something that we could do to help the government and not just complaints from the CSOs) 

Ayo said the golden trumpet is an ornamental tree that can enliven Hadiya village and can also contribute to ecotourism. 

UN-Habitat Project Manager Warren Ubongen, on the other hand, said the plant symbolizes hope for the people. He also assured that each plant has an assigned home partner to ensure that the plant is taken care of.

Meanwhile, Cuerpo expressed appreciation to DepEd for honoring the ultimate sacrifice of the 168 heroes to recover the city from the clutches of the ISIS-inspired Maute group.  He recalled that of the 168 heroes, 124 are from Philippine Army, 36 are Philippine Navy sailors and marines, and eight are from the Philippine National Police.

Of the 168 tree seedlings, 109 were planted in Hadiya Village located in Barangay Dulay West. It is the first resettlement site opened and turned over to the 109 displaced families with permanent houses built by UN-Habitat through the funding support from the people of Japan on a 1.8 hectares land procured and developed by the SHFC. The rest of the trees were planted in Darusallam village, another resettlement site supported by UN-Habitat.

Before the tree planting activity, DepEd and the Provincial Government of Lanao del Sur also distributed vegetable seeds to Hadiya village residents as a way to enhance the food security of families. Gawad Kalinga Community Development Foundation also sponsored a feeding program for 150 children of Hadiya village and those living nearby the resettlement site. (APB/PIA Lanao del Sur)

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12 Peace Promotion Fellows showcase projects

MARAWI CITY, Lanao del Sur--Twelve youth showcased in a Townhall ceremony on Thursday, May 20, their community projects aiming to promote peace in Lanao provinces.

 

The presentation of their projects is a wrap-up activity of the three-month Peace Promotion Fellowship (PPF) where they underwent capability-building sessions on project management and were mentored by individuals who are experts in the field that their chosen projects will respond to.

 

“Our project addresses the pressing issue of clan feud or commonly known as ‘rido’. We see this as a major hindrance to the development in the Maranao community and also the reason why there are families who were not able to seek opportunities for development outside their hideouts wherein there were also affected children and youth who were not able to pursue their education,” said Nurjehan Dimacangun of Project RINAWareness.

 

Dimacangun and three other fellows came up with RINAWareness to emphasize the role of youth and children in peacebuilding from conflict-affected communities in the municipality of Balo-i in Lanao del Norte through positive narratives.

 

Another project dubbed ‘Peace Harvest’ aims to address the problem of food insecurity and malnutrition among students in madrasahs and torils in Marawi City through sustainable gardening.

 

“We crafted this project in answer to food insecurity and malnutrition that we have here in Marawi City because our madrasahs are not self-sustaining, meaning, they rely on their donors and are not self-reliant at all. We want them to be self-reliant, self-sustaining, which means that they grow their own food instead of asking from donors,” said Jamal Pandapatan.

 

Project KaLAKElintad, on the other hand, focuses on improving the life skills of out-of-school youth (OSY) in the municipality of Marantao in Lanao del Sur and making them agents of peace.

 

Asliah Abdullah, one of the champions of Project KaLAKElintad, said they seek to develop the skills and capacities of OSY and provide them an avenue to express themselves and become more aware and responsible citizens of the community where they belong.

 

Meanwhile, Dimacangun expressed gratitude to Plan International and Equal Access International for giving them the chance to promote peace and positive social change.

 

“We are so much grateful for the opportunity, learnings, and values that we will bring with us in our lives,” she said.

 

The PPF is an initiative of the Equal Access International with the support of Plan International through the USAID-funded Marawi Response Project.

 

The PPF Townhall is just one of the activities lined up by Plan International in support of this year’s Marawi Week of Peace. Other activities include Child Protection and Gender-Based Violence Referral Pathways Workshop,  Community-based Training on Basic Dressmaking and Basic Cookery, and Capacity Development and Barangay Entrepreneurship Program Orientation, among others. (APB/PIA Lanao del Sur)

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1,000 Iskolar ng Marawi receive allowance

MARAWI CITY, Lanao del Sur--One thousand (1,000) beneficiaries of the Iskolar ng Marawi program are set to receive their allowance this week under the city government's scholarship program.

A flagship program of Mayor Majul Gandamra, the Iskolar ng Marawi program was launched in 2018 to grant scholarships to deserving displaced students of the city.

Prof. Johana Gandamra-Tanggo, Marawi Scholarship Program chairperson, said the program which will run for five years has a total of 2,000 beneficiaries.

The scholars consist of 1,500 elementary students, 300 high school students, and 200 college students enrolled in different private or public schools in Marawi City starting from the school year 2018-2019 and thereafter.

Under the program, the scholars will get a grant amounting to a maximum of P4,000.00 for each elementary pupil, P7,000.00 for each high school student, and P9,000.00 for each college student per school year to defray tuition fee, transportation allowance, books, uniform, and miscellaneous fees.

On Tuesday, employees of the city government handling the program processed and released P4,900.00 each to parents of scholars from Grades 7 and 8 representing the last tranche of their allowance for school year 2020-2021. The allowance covers the months November 202o to May 2021.

Parents of the scholars are grateful for the assistance saying the allowance is a big help considering the financial constraints they are facing amidst the pandemic. Accordingly, some students used their allowance to buy internet load for their online classes.

"Malaking tulong ito sa amin kahit papaano ay bawas gastos namin. Lahat po ng mga parents dito ay nagpapasalamat sa ibinibigay nilang tulong gaya ng scholar. Magagamit namin para sa pambili ng mga gamit sa school," said parent Saifoden Guro from Brgy Moriatao Luksadatu during the releasing held at city hall compound.

[This is a big help to us as it will somehow reduce our expenses. All the parents here are grateful for the help that they extended such as the scholarship. We can use it to buy school supplies.]

Nasheba Calauto, a parent from Brgy. Basak Malutlot, also expressed gratitude for the scholarship which she said has somehow assisted in the education of her child.

The distribution of allowance for Iskolar ng Marawi is one of the activities lined up for the Marawi Week of Peace from May 17-23, 2021. The weeklong observance is anchored on the theme "Peace Starts with Us: Give, Work, and Share."

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Marawi learners happy with school kits from World Vision

MARAWI CITY, Lanao del Sur--Grade 5 student Amiladed Calil is thankful for the new school items that he received from World Vision Philippines Monday, May 17.

He said he can use the school supplies especially the school bag in the next school year.

The 13-year old learner also expressed his excitement and appreciation saying it will help cut their budget for school supplies.

"Panalamat ako ka mala a myalebat sa gasto ami sa ipamasa sa bago a bag," he said. (I am thankful as this will reduce our budget for purchasing a new school bag.

Jamirah Watamama cannot also hide her happiness for having received the school supplies.

"Panalamat kami sa (we want to thank the) World Vision," conveyed the Grade 4 student adding that this will inspire her to do better in her studies.

Amiladed and Jamirah are just two of the school children supported by World Vision through its Urban Child Protection Project which aims to provide school kits to 1,679 learners of five schools in Marawi.

"We have five partner schools under this project, kabilang dito ang (this includes) Abdulazis Elementary School (ES) in Brgy. Cadayonan, Cadayonan ES in Brgy. Cadayonan 1, H. Hassan Memorial ES in Brgy. Malimono, Sikap ES in Brgy. Rapasun, and Tuca-Boganga ES in Brgy. Tuca-Ambolong," said Cecile Cenas, Marawi project coordinator of World Vision Ph.

The World Vision already distributed school kits to 217 learners in H. Hassan Memorial ES.

The school materials include notebooks, pens, pencils, and a bag with IEC materials on child protection.

Learners from the four other schools are also set to receive the school kits on May 18 and 19.

Meanwhile, Cenas disclosed that the project also includes reading literacy and health interventions.

"We have provided health equipment to the City Health Office that will be used by our five partner barangays," she said.

Handwashing facilities are also being constructed in the five schools.

"We are happy to share that one of our hand washing facilities is now ready for use. This is in Cadayonan Elementary School," she added.

Aside from the distribution of school kits, World Vision also partnered with the Department of Education for mental health and psychosocial support services to internally displaced persons.

Moreover, World Vision in partnership with Marawi City Agriculture Office is set to distribute backyard vegetable gardening materials to encourage households on food production using the Natural Farming Technology System as support to promoting the nutrition of children. (APB/PIA Lanao del Sur)

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LGU Marawi offers free birth registration anew

MARAWI CITY, Lanao del Sur--Residents here may now avail of free birth registration at the Local Civil Registrar (LCR) Office located inside City Hall Compound from May 17-19, 2021.

This, after the city government of Marawi, rolled out a three-day free birth registration to provide its vulnerable residents with birth certificates and avoid difficulties in natal registration in the future.

The LCR served as the frontline agency in processing the birth certificates and in making sure that each client is given appropriate assistance.

Bai Rawia Naga-Pangadapun, acting city civil registrar, said they target to cater 50 or more beneficiaries who belong to the vulnerable sector such as PWDs and those who cannot afford to pay for birth registration.

She said those who want to avail of the free registration only need to bring a barangay certificate and a valid ID.

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Pangadapun said the free birth registration is one of the activities the city government lined up for the Marawi Week of Peace (MWOP).

She further shared that the LCR has been providing free civil registration after the Marawi siege and every MWOP to internally displaced persons (IDPs) adding that the reconstruction of civil documents lost during the Marawi siege is among the important steps in rebuilding the lives of IDPs. (APB/PIA Lanao del Sur)

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