“Ramadhan Village” showcases Moro culture, food

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COTABATO CITY (MindaNews/15 July) – Visitors to the Ramadhan Village inside the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) compound here have had their fill of cultural presentations and a taste of Moro culinary delights every night since the start of the month of fasting on June 16.

The Ramadhan village, also known as “Ramadhan Fair” may be likened to a Christmas village during the yuletide season.

After breaking the fast and a prayer called “Tarawi,” visitors would be entertained by various cultural presentations from different tribal villages inside the ARMM compound.

“Here you can tour the region in an hour,” said Samaon Ismael, one of the visitors who joined the congregational prayer Monday night.

Visitors can witness a war dance and listen to the melody of kulintang at the Iranon villages.

At the nearby Tausug village, they can watch the Pangalay dance taste free native Sulu coffee in front of the replica of Darul Jambangan Royal House.

The Badjaos in the next “village” display their prowess by performing the famous Jangay dance.

The Meranaw or Maranaw from Lanao del Sur are not to be outdone. They are showcasing the famous Torogan, the Royal House where handicraft and the world famous malong (shawl) are on display.

In between “tours,” guests can taste different Moro delicacies for a very reasonable price.

“The atmosphere is really great here; our identity is shown here, in just one setting. In less than an hour one can feel, learn and be educated about the Muslim culture, tradition and food,” Secretary Don Loong of the ARMM Department of Public Works and Highways said.

The Ramadhan village is a reflection of Muslim Mindanao, Bai Shalimar Candao, Maguindanao tourism chief, said.

“You can see here what you have not seen in the past because our history is reborn here,” Candao said in Filipino, citing the case of Maguindanao.

“This is Walay na Sultan (House of Sultan),” she said, gesturing to the structure nearby.

“The concept of Maguindanao village is to showcase the Maguindanao culture on how it has evolved from [past] centuries to the present,” she added.

“Of course we are very happy. It is only now that our visitors learn about our Iranun culture and how we evolved in the autonomous region,” said Mayor Abolais Manalao of Buldon, Maguindanao and host of Maguindanao Iranun village.

Days before the Eud’l Fitr celebration marking the end of Ramadhan, organizers said they have prepared a grand event that includes several cultural presentations for guests.

During Ramadhan Muslims fast from dawn to dusk and devote more time to prayers and charity works as a religious obligation. (Ferdinandh Cabrera/MindaNews)

Maguindanao: Transparency on bulk of loans

Five years after, the province was granted by the Land Bank of the Philippines to loan amounting to 1.7 Billion pesos payable in 10 years from separate loan terms.

Among the urgent and needed to be funded are the two giant dredging machine to be purchased for the flood prone province which cost around 200 million pesos.

Others will finance the purchase of provincial heavy equipment,construction of provincial capitol building, provincial jail, road networks and bridges, educational scholarship program, nursery and high value-crops seedlings.

This was the first after the province has been paying in the last years  the unpaid loan from the  his predescessors.

Vice-Governor Datu Lester Sinsuat said, the crafting of the loan was scrutinized and ratified from the Sanguniang Panlalawigan officials which he said is has far different from the previous procedures where at the moment transparency of the deal  and the following bidding will obviously be present.

END.

Maguindanao province, Army build Islamic school in former BIFF area

SALIPADA K. PENDATUN, Maguindanao (MindaNews / 29 June) – More than a hundred young children by the roadside amidst rice fields chanted and waived their flaglets as military troops and provincial officials arrived in the village of Kulasi.

Two years ago, the place was once an enclave of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), who regularly figured in fierce battles against government troops.

Today, residents witnessed a very different scenario when the team headed by Maj. Gen. Edmundo R. Pangilinan and Maguindanao Governor Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu came for the turnover of a two-room Islamic school named Madrasa Tarbiya Al-Islamiyah, which aims to cater to more than 100 school children.

The project was initiated and built when Pangilinan was still a commander of the Army’s 601st Infantry Brigade stationed in Tacurong City in 2013.

“The first time we came here, not a single child was seen roaming. It was almost an abandoned area, and that made me worry because it’s so abnormal,” recalled Pangilinan, now commanding general of the 6th Infantry Division.

“What we witnessed now is far different, with jubilant young children gladly welcoming us. This is the scene we want to see in every Moro community,” he said.

Mangudadatu said exposing children to education is his administration’s only legacy to achieve long lasting peace in Mindanao because everybody has the chance to widen understanding.

In his speech inspired by the Ramadhan, the governor expressed concerns on extremist teachings to the young generation, which he said is dangerous as it may be an opening for future conflicts.

“That is why we prioritize education in our governance agenda because this is what we believe is the greatest enemy of poverty and insurgency. I’m praying this madrasah will give the children proper upbringing, will impart to them the moderate teachings of Islam,” he said.

The two-room madrasah, constructed by soldiers with the cooperation of local residents and P1-million support fund from the governor’s office for the construction materials, was built beside a dilapidated makeshift building, which served as the children’s classroom.

Army and provincial officials pledged to rehabilitate the old building to be used as a multi-purpose structure for the community’s use.

Barangay Kulasi chair Mamisan Akoy said they didn’t ask money or food from the local government. But he stressed that the madrasah was the greatest gift received by the community this Ramadhan.

He urged his fellow constituents who left the village because they are aligned with the BIFF to come back home and lead normal lives. Several houses in the village, mostly makeshift huts, are in a state of abandon.

BIFF spokesman Abu Misry Mama, when asked about Akoy’s appeal, replied over telephone: “No problem with that. We too want to live a normal and peaceful life.”

Explosion rocks Cotabato City and Maguindanao, 1 hurt

Blast site along Sinsuat Avenue in front of Aling Precy restaurant

COTABATO CITY (April 18) – A series of grenade attacks perpetrated by two men riding tandem on motorbike hit Cotabato City and Maguindanao Saturday night, police said. The first grenade attack occurred at a police detachment in Barangay Tamontaka 2, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao at past 7 p.m. Nobody was hurt. Police said the suspects riding tandem on a motorbike tossed the grenade as it approached the police detachment and sped away. Shortly before 8 p.m., the same suspects tossed a hand grenade at a military vehicle of the Army Special Forces Battalion conducting patrol along Sinsuat Avenue, particularly near Aling Precy restaurant. The blast damaged the restaurant’s glass panes and wounded a certain Dalmacio Villa who was rushed to the Cotabato Regional and Medical Center. An Army truck driver said he noticed a motorbike with two men on board overtook his truck. The back rider tossed a grenade towards the driver side as the Army truck was in front of Aling Precy Restaurant along Sinsuat Avenue. “We were lucky the grenade bumped off the glass window and few seconds later a loud explosions occurred,” he told this reporter. “They immediately sped away. We chased the suspects but traffic along Sinsuat Avenue prevented us from catching up with them,” the driver, who asked not to be named, added. He said his companions could not fire at the fleeing suspects as there were many civilians along the highway. The suspects fled toward Notre Dame Avenue where they left behind an improvised bomb in front of Special Forces detachment in Barangay Rosary Heights 2. Senior Insp. Efren Salazar, police station 1 chief, said the IED, fashioned from 60 mm mortar, did not explode. As of posting, police and Army bomb experts are still conducting post blast investigation. No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks. (Ferdinandh Cabrera)

Drought exacts toll on Cotabato farmers

COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 16 April) – Farmer Deylon Musa, 62, shared boiled rice and steamed camote tops with his wife Pundo and a five-year-old granddaughter for lunch on Thursday at their small, dilapidated hut at Barangay Tamontaka here just beside his rice field.

An hour earlier, under the scorching heat of the sun, Musa finished his routine working on a hectare of farm land that used to be soaked in water.

But the drought has changed all that, as the dry spell has hit his farm bad since February. He could no longer harvest the rice on his field, the stalks still swaying with the wind.

He gasped with despair.

Musa’s face showed how he and other farmers have suffered due to the dry spell. His farmland, used to be lush green, has turned into yellowish brown.

If the drought goes on, Musa could not say how he could make both ends meet. His wife is earning just enough for the family’s food on the table through laundry jobs.

“This is my worst problem,” Musa told reporters as he showed his devastated farmland.

At least 19 of Cotabato City’s 37 villages have been placed under state of calamity due to the drought after the agriculture sector suffered P17 million losses to agricultural crops.

More than 300 farmers in 400 hectares farmlands planted to rice and corn have been affected by the drought in the city’s agricultural sites.

“All I pray is rain, more rain because we cannot rely on water from the river. Strong rain is what we need here,” Musa said as he was about to embarked on another round of farm work going to his vegetable yard.

Mayor Japal Guiani Jr. said the Sangguniang Panlungsod has approved a resolution putting the affected villages under a state of calamity so the local government could use its calamity fund in helping the affected farmers.

“State of calamity has been declared in 19 villages so that our farmers can receive assistance from concerned government agencies while our government workers can avail of calamity loan,” Guiani said in an interview.

He also chided the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) for what he called a “ghost project” in Barangay Tamontaka, referring to a 100-hectare irrigation rehabilitation project in the area implemented by NIA with a budget of P64 million, expected to have been completed in 2012.

Guiani could hardly believe the city rice fields have dried up when there are several tributaries to the farms. Furthermore, Cotabato is surrounded by two big rivers – Rio Grande de Mindanao and the Tamontaka River.

The mayor said there must be an investigation on the project. It turned out the project was mothballed.

“Our farmers are now suffering because hundred of hectares of farmlands programmed for irrigation with this huge budget was not completed,” he said.

Guiani stressed that the farmers here should not have experienced drought as there is supposed to be ample water supply, if only the irrigation project was pushed through.

Food Security Secretary Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, who also chairs NIA, was asked about the alleged “ghost project” during his visit to Maguindanao but declined to comment, saying no report about it has reached his office.

He said he will call for an investigation.

MindaNews contacted the public information office of NIA-12 but the woman on the phone could not comment on the issue, saying only her boss, who was not in the office, was authorized to respond. MindaNews also asked for the regional director’s number, but NIA has not yet replied as of press time. (Ferdinandh Cabrera / MindaNews with reports from Joyce Toledo and Tanto Piang Jr., University of Southern Mindanao Development Communication interns)