Recalling the test of time AND THOSE EARLY DAYS IN MARINAUT

Bae Omel Basman

BAE ROCAYA SUMNDAD OTICAL

Marawi City

Marinaut, with its beautiful history, is associated with the royal family of the former lady mayor, Bae Omelkhair Macabando Basman, whose father is the present Sultan of Marinaut. 

The place was a bailiwick which had helped, among others, propelled her late husband and herself to political power.

The late lawyer Abbas Basman served the Islamic City as mayor for years. Then his better half was also elected mayor and served the city for years too.

Lady Omelkhair recalled how she strived hard to put up the Marinaut Elementary School motivated by her concern on how hard children got their education when schools and teachers were rare, and to establish a school was not so easy.

She said she barely graduated from college when Daluma invited her to teach. 

“Who does not want to receive salary?,” she said. 

For 20 years, the teachers had been renting and no leader had ever shown interest in helping them. 

So, the former lady mayor said, “we helped until we landed to power.” 

“The people of Marinaut,” said the former lady mayor, “had helped us a lot. 

For more than a decade, she added, they always won over 300 votes against their opponent. 

She said, “our people had been closed to us and we thought of helping them especially in putting up a school.” 

Thus at first she asked her father to donate a lot for a school and built a house. But it became useless then for no one would like to go there and teach. 

At that time, the principal was Lacs Pangandamun. 

“So I decided to buy a lot where to establish a school more convenient and so accessible,” she said. 

Marinaut 1 Elementary School stands in the lot Bae Omel bought from the children of the late Kiram Sampaco at the price of more than P1 million. 

She said they built the building out of their own resources and never asked help from Manila because they would feel embarrassed. 

The principal at that time was Konolan Macawadib who felt happy, of course. It was in 1993. 

“I handed over the land title to Ms. Asmalin Mangata when she took over the principalship of Marinaut 1,” she said. 

For 20 years, she said, they never interfered with the school thinking that what they did was a sadaqa. 

She recalled how her late husband talked to then Principal Musa Pangandaman and begged him to hand over his position to the late mayor sister-in-law, Roca Jallillah Basman Dimal in case he retire. 

So Roca became the principal and we never interfered except when they came to us to help,” said Lady Omel. 

When Dr. Roca Jallillah was promoted to district supervisor, the Abbas family were no longer in powers.