DAVAO CITY – Various infrastructure projects implemented under the Payapa at
Masaganang Pamayanan (PAMANA) program in the different recipient-barangays
within and outside the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) have already
been completed, benefiting the so-called “MNLF areas.”
Director Enrico dela
Torre told a group of government information officers attending the three-day
workshop on communicating the gains of PAMANA held here at the Pinnacle Hotel starting March
18-21, Director Eric de la Torre disclosed that infrastructure projects ranging
from farm-to-market roads, bridges, postharvest facilities, water supply
systems to health centers and others have been constructed in “peace and
development communities” (PDCs), the places where the camps of the Moro
National Liberation Front (MNLF) were situated prior to the signing of the
peace agreement between the MNLF and the government in 1996.
Dela Torre also said the
PAMANA-PDC projects have been implemented through a multi-stakeholder scheme in
which the community people are the ones identifying the infrastructures to be
constructed in coordination with the implementing agencies and a “third party,”
which comes from a non-government organization, that would certify the veracity
of the project.
With the implementation
of PAMANA-PDC, dela Torre observed that the community people are now actively
involved in seeking government’s assistance/projects that would answer their
needs.
The provinces which
received PAMANA-PDC projects are Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and
Maguindanao of ARMM, Zambonga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay
of Region 9, Lanao del Norte of Region 10, Davao del Sur of Region 11, and North
Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, South Cotabato and Sarangani of Region 12.
PAMANA is the national
government’s peace and development framework to respond and strengthen peace
building, reconstruction, and development in conflict-affected areas (CAAs) as
spelled out in President Aquino’s five priority programs which include the
attainment of “just, inclusive and lasting peace” among others. (PIA9)