1K families benefit from Maguindanao outreach program

COTABATO CITY -- More than 1,000 families have benefited from a joint medical and dental mission spearheaded by the local government of Shariff Saydona Mustapha (SSM), Maguindanao on Friday.

Among the partners of the SSM municipal government in the undertaking were the provincial health office, military, and the office of Senator Nancy Binay.

Mayor Sajid Islam Ampatuan said the senator has given rice assistance to the families, most of whom were displaced by a recent military offensive against the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in the area.

During the program, the Army’s 601st Infantry Brigade provided security and manpower for the distribution of goods to the beneficiaries.

“This outreach package aims to bring government services to my town’s farthest barangays whose constituents could hardly come to the town center,” Ampatuan said of the activity held at far-flung Barangay Dasawao.

“The welfare of the people always comes first,” he added.

Aside from the distribution of food packs, the program also included prenatal checkup, dental services, diabetic tests, consultation, and minor surgical operations.

The SSM is situated near the so-called “SPMS box” that the military termed for the adjoining towns of Shariff Aguak, Pagatin (Datu Saudi), Mamasapano, and Salibo, where the BIFF mainly operates.

On August 5, thousands of families fled the area due to the air and ground offensive launched by the military against the BIFF massing at the peripheries of the adjoining towns. After two weeks of the campaign, the military halted its operation and gave the displaced families the go-signal to return home.

Many of the families, however, preferred to stay at the evacuation centers for fear that the conflict between the government forces and BIFF might erupt again soon.

Ampatuan said more outreach programs are to take place in the remote villages of his town in the coming days. (PNA)

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