Lanao Sur Guv Leads Oath Taking Of Elected Officials

Lanao del Sur provincial governor Mamintal Adiong poses with elected officials during the mass oath-taking Sunday, July 4, 2010 held in Marawi City. (Mindanao Examiner Photo – Becky de Asis)

MARAWI CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 4, 2010) – Governor Mamintal Adiong and his deputy Arsad Marohombsar led local officials in mass oath-taking Sunday which coincided with the 51st Founding Day of Lanao del Sur province.

Secretary Jesus Dureza, the head of the Mindanao Development Authority, graced the event which was attended by thousands of people. Judge Wenida Papandayan administered the oath to the elected officials.

Adiong called on citizens to stay united and help in nation building and make the province a safe place to live in. He said he would aggressively pursue peace and development programs and introduced economic reforms aimed at alleviating the lives of the locals

He also urged supporters and politicians to work together for the good benefit of all and out aside personal interests. “We need to work hard together if we want peace and progress to reign in this beautiful province,” he said. (Becky de Asis)

New Lanao Sur hospital inaugurated

LANAO DEL SUR, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / January 15, 2010) – The acting governor of the Muslim autonomous region Ansaruddin Adiong inaugurated the newly renovated training center at the Tamparan District Hospital in Lanao del Sur province.

Villagers now have access to better health and recreational facilities following Thursday's inauguration of the hospital's training center, said Ali Macabalang, Executive Director of the Bureau of Public Information in the Muslim autonomous region.

He said Adiong led the inauguration of the training center in ceremonies attended by his elder brother, Lanao del Sur Governor Mamintal Adiong Jr. alongside all mayors in the province.

In his brief speech, Adiong aired his administration’s commitment to advance health initiatives to help make the region’s over four million residents mentally and physically healthy.

Adiong assured to support the refurbished hospital by providing other necessary medical equipment. He also released funding for a new set of uniform to each of the hospital's personnel and 22 boxes of assorted medicines.

He said his one month-old administration will strive to let his constituents “feel the services of the government.”

The rehabilitation of the Tamparan District Hospital Training Center has been funded cost more than five million pesos and funded by the Muslim autonomous region's Social Fund Program through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Macabalang said.

Dr. Potri Disomimba-Ali, the hospital's chief administrator, lauded Adiong for the improvement of the medical facility after seeing it in a poor condition during a free cataract operation he sponsored few months ago.

“The realization of this project has been through the efforts made by Governor Adiong,” Ali said.

The two-storey, 10 x 30 square meter training center, Ali said, will provide quality medical and health services to the locals and will serve as “ideal venue for our integrated health programs such as future medical missions.”

Engineer Nasser Sinarimbo, Project Manager for the Social Fund Program, said the project formed part of the commitment of the regional government to provide constituents access to decent health service.

Tito Oria Sr., a JICA expert, urged hospital administrators to take care of the facility, even as he expressed optimism for its long sustained operations. He also pledged to continue supporting projects on the pipeline intended for the development of stakeholders and communities in the region.

Tamparan District Hospital was created thru Republic Act passed in Congress in 1963 through the efforts of then Mayor Datu Palawan Disomimba under President Diosdado Macapagal. In 1987, the hospital was upgraded to serve all its ten neighboring municipalities in the province.

The province now has five district hospitals and the Amai Pakpak Provincial hospital in Marawi City.

Adiong, vice governor of the Muslim autonomous region, took over as acting regional governor after the governor Zaldy Ampatuan, and his father and brothers were implicated in the brutal slayings of 57 people, including 31 journalists, in Maguindanao province on November 23.

Aside from Lanao del Sur, four other provinces - Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and Maguindanao, are part of the Muslim autonomous region.(With reports from Merlyn Manos and Mark Navales)

(With reports from Merlyn Manos and Mark Navales)

Japan funds ARMM projects

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / January 14, 2010) — The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao is set to acquire a fleet of heavy equipment amounting to more than one hundred forty million pesos that would be utilized to support the maintenance of national roads and bridges in the region, the Philippine News Agency reported.

It said the funding for the project was provided by the Japanese government thru the 6th Non-Project Grant Assistance Counter Value Fund.

Secretary Titingalangit Sumagayan, of the Department of Public Works and Highways in the Muslim autnonomous region, said the delivery of the equipment, which started in December last year, should be completed within 90 days as stipulated in the contract agreement between the department and the winning bidder, RDAK Transport Equipment of Davao City.

Another project also being funded by the NPGA6-CVF is the construction of the Japan-ARMM Friendship Hall and Training Center that would be immediately started after its proposed location is approved.

The heavy equipment acquisition forms part of efforts by newly-installed acting ARMM Governor Ansaruddin Adiong to make highways within the region safer and more convenient for road users.

Adiong had earlier ordered the release in full of the road maintenance funds to the different engineering districts in the region amounting to some six million pesos.

ARMM is composed of the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Sulu, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi and Marawi City. Except for Tawi-tawi, each province has two engineering districts.

However, the engineering district of Basilan is still under the supervision of the Department of Public Works and Highway central office and is not covered by the fund, according to Sumagayan.

Road maintenance works are now being undertaken in areas across the region.

Adiong has further ordered the strict monitoring of field engineering works and the suspension of the succeeding monthly fund release of engineering districts who neglect their duties.

The Asia Foundation donates books to Lanao del Sur

MARAWI CITY, Philippines – Some 35,000 brand new books were distributed Sunday to 740 public elementary and high schools across Lanao Del Sur province in an effort to expand and improve access to educational materials.

Lanao Del Sur Provincial Library benefited from the donation of books which is made possible by The Asia Foundation’s Books for Asia program and distributed in Mindanao through the Foundation’s Transparent Accountable Governance project, with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Governor Mamintal Adiong, Jr., officials of the provincial government, and staff of the Department of Education attended the handover ceremony.

Officials from USAID and from The Asia Foundation, including Ky Johnson, Deputy Country Representative and Efren Balajadia, Director of the Books for Asia program, presented the books to representatives of the 740 elementary and secondary schools at the event.

“We are working in solidarity with local leaders and citizens to distribute books to all communities, but especially in Mindanao, so that all scholars - rich and poor,Muslims and Christians - have access to reading materials and information,” said Johnson. “Through this donation, the people of Lanao Del Sur will have access to educational resources that will enhance their knowledge and skills in order to promote literacy in every community.”

USAID also supported the book distribution in Lanao Del Sur in response to the need for educational materials in Mindanao. Books for Asia provides a full range of books to public school students with different levels of learning.

The provision of books and other educational resources demonstrates commitment in the campaign to improving education in communities in the southern part of the Philippines.

Johnson noted the Foundation’s support to local communities in Mindanao and other parts of the Philippines to improve the quality of education dates back to the 1950s.

“With the cooperation of local governments and private partners, we can help each community bring educational materials to deserving students throughout southern Mindanao and the rest of the Philippines,” he said.

The Asia Foundation acknowledges the important support of public and private partners in this endeavor, especially the Provincial Government of Lanao Del Sur for encouraging activities that promote education and literacy American publishers like The McGraw-Hill Companies, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and Pearson Education for their donation of new books, as well as USAID for generously supporting Books for Asia’s efforts to foster education throughout Mindanao.

Flash Floods Hit Southern RP Town

MARAWI CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 9, 2008) – Flash floods triggered by heavy rains the past days submerged several villages in the town of Wao in Lanao del Sur province in the southern Philippines, officials said Thursday.

Officials were also verifying reports that several people drowned in the village of Kabigis, where at least 50 houses had been affected by rampaging floodwaters.

Col. Rey Ardo, commander of the 103rd Infantry Brigade, said troops have been deployed in the area to rescue villagers trapped in the flood.

Gov. Mamintal Adiong Jr. has requested helicopters and rubber boats from the military to hasten the rescue of those trapped in the villages. Mayor Elvino Balitao Jr. said civilian volunteers were helping in the rescue of the villagers. (Merlyn Manos)

Governor's House Attacked In Southern Philippines

MARAWI CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 15, 2007) – Unidentified gunmen attacked Thursday the house of a provincial governor in the troubled Muslim autonomous region in Mindanao, police said.

Police said the attackers fired a rocket grenade at the house of Lanao del Sur Governor Mamintal Adiong Jr. in Marawi City.

No one was reported killed or injured in the attack that occurred at around 3 in the morning. Police said it recovered fragments of the grenade, believed fired from an M203 rifle.

No group or individual claimed responsibility for the attack, but Adiong belongs to a powerful Muslim clan in the region.

Adiong’s father was also a former governor of the province and his younger brother is currently the vice governor of the Muslim autonomous region.

The region, composed of five provinces, including Sulu, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi and Maguindanao, is a hotbed of insurgency, torn by political clan war and had been in the past one of the most corrupt in the Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner)