Binay
recently filed a resolution calling for an inquiry into the program, and cited
reports claiming that President Aquino’s peace adviser Teresita Deles has been
implementing the supposedly “secretive” program for MILF members and supporters
allegedly without the knowledge of and coordination with local governments.
Binay
also said the program was not supposed to be exclusive to the MILF members and
was supposed to be open to all, including Christians, Muslims, and Lumad in the
covered areas, but the list of areas covered and the list of beneficiaries
would come from the MILF.
Given
these information, the program should be given a deeper look, she said.
“The
uncoordinated efforts of various government agencies in implementing the
Program without the knowledge of local government units as well as the
counter-productive identification of coverage and beneficiaries of the Program
with the end view of providing various public services warrants an
investigation in aid of legislation to ensure social protection,” she said.
She
added that the probe should be conducted by the committee on social justice,
welfare, and rural development, which she happens to chair.
The
Sajahatra Bangsamoro Program was launched four months after the government and
the MILF signed in 2014 the historic Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro,
a deal envisioned to bring peace to conflict-ridden areas in Mindanao.
The
program has been designed to focus on quick-gestation, high-impact, social
protection-type programs.
Services
provided consist of health insurance through PhilHealth, upgrading of
community-based services through the Department of Health, scholarships through
the Commission on Higher Education, educational assistance through the
Department of Education, a cash for work program and supplemental feeding
program through the Department of Social Welfare and Development, and
technical-vocational training from the Technical Education and Skills
Development Authority.
The
peace talks between the government and the MILF have been imperiled because of
the recent clash between the government’s Special Action Forces and the Moro
Islamic Liberation Front, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and private armed
groups in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, following a police operation to arrest
terror suspects.
The
clash has endangered support for the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law, which would
create a new Bangsamoro region in Mindanao, as agreed upon in the comprehensive
agreement. SFM/AC
Source +INQUIRER.net
Tagged +INQUIRER.net
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