BTA minority bloc reaches out, thousands benefit

While Luzon may have borne the brunt of them, the difficulties wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic have arrived in even the farthest reaches of the country. This crisis has severely affected people’s livelihoods in the Bangsamoro region, and many of those affected would go hungry without help.

More than 2,000 families have benefited from the relief packages given to them by the members of the minority bloc of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA).

The recipients of this assistance include residents of selected barangays, as well as the patients and staff of a hospital in Cotabato City, patients in a hospital in the town of Sultan Kudarat in Maguindanao, Muslim communities, and Madaris teachers in Zamboanga City. Residents of the port area of Sitangkai town in the province of Tawi-Tawi, and villagers in the town of Akbar in Basilan province also received relief packs.

The group also extended cash assistance to dozens of Bangsamoro daily wage-earners who’d lost livelihoods due to the pandemic, as well as residents of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) who were stranded in different places in the country.

The Bangsamoro legislative body’s minority bloc has also begun procuring some 700 sets of personal protective equipment (PPE), and thousands of masks intended for front-line medical workers across the Bangsamoro region. They also said they are purchasing decontamination tents for the region’s front-line health teams.

The group said that they’ve allotted two months’ worth of their salaries–for March and April–to finance their relief efforts. They also plan to continue reaching out to the people in the region who need help.

The BTA is in recess and will resume its regular session in June.

The BTA’s minority bloc is composed of Minority Floor Leader and human rights lawyer Laisa Alamia, engineers Don Loong, and Baintan Ampatuan, lawyers Rasol Mitmug Jr, and Teng Ambolodto, former local government executive Rasul Ismael, and youth leader and former journalist Amir Mawallil.

Every contribution to assistance given to our people who are in need does good, and there is no such thing as a small effort. We can work for the safety and good health of our communities with every little bit we give. Not one bit of generosity is too small.

PR/RSP