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Friday, August 26, 2005
Muslims seek land for Badjao families
By Linette C. Ramos & Rene H. Martel
Sun.Star Staff Reporters
After finally a getting a cemetery of their own, the Muslim community this time is appealing for a relocation site for Badjao families who lost their homes in a fire.
The Office on Muslim Affairs (OMA) will ask the Cebu City Government to allow the use of a City-owned lot in Barangay Pardo as relocation site for Muslim Badjao families.
Yesterday, the City turned over to the Muslim community a two-hectare property in Barangay Guba to be made into a cemetery.
With the donation, Muslims will no longer have to immediately send their dead to Mindanao for burial and spend at least P5,000 for shipment. Under their customs, Muslims bury their dead within 24 hours from the time of death.
Displaced by fire
The OMA wants Mayor Tomas Osmeña to allow 45 Muslim families, whose houses were gutted by fire, to build homes on a lot in Pardo.
Although Osmeña is already negotiating with the Cordova Municipal Government for the relocation of the Badjaos there, OMA Director Sakiran Hajan said they want them to remain in the city.
Some 45 Muslim families, or around 100 persons, will benefit if the City grants OMA’s request.
“There are 45 families who have embraced the teachings of Islam and we want them to remain with the Muslim community in Cebu City as much as possible,” Hajan said.
If the City allows the use of the lot, OMA will request National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) Secretary Zamzamin Ampatuan, former OMA executive director, to help fund the construction of the houses under their poverty alleviation program.
In an interview yesterday, Osmeña said they will consider OMA’s request and will refer it to City Administrator Francisco Fernandez.
Hajan said they are hoping the 45 families will get a 32-square-meter lot each.
Ampatuan said NAPC does not have a program for the Badjaos since the commission is only a coordinating body.
Housing projects and other poverty alleviation programs for the Badjaos would have to be coursed through the National Commission for Indigenous People.
With leaders of at least four Muslim tribes in attendance, Osmeña signed and handed the deed of donation for the cemetery lot to OMA deputy executive director Sulaiman Mutia in a simple ceremony at Crown Plaza Hotel, North Reclamation Area.
Delayed
In a brief speech, Osmeña assured the Muslims his administration will take care of them.
“(It took) so long to reach this point. But now, at least we can see it is more than just a promise,” he said.
Months after being elected into office, Osmeña, during a prayer rally in 2001, promised that the lot will be ready by 2002.
The two-hectare lot is part of the 29.9-hectare property the City bought for P11.5 million in 1997.
But hitches in getting environmental compliance certificate (ECC) from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources delayed the donation.
The land is situated within the Kotkot-Lusaran watershed area and is a protected zone under the National Integrated Protected Areas System Act. But Osmeña talked with President Arroyo for the issuance of the ECC, OMA 7 director Sakiran Hajan said when the City Council approved the deed of donation last June 8.
Before, Muslims had to spend a lot of money, sometimes hiring private planes, to bring their dead to Mindanao.
Hajan said it takes between P5,000 to P10,000 for a body to be transported by boat to Iligan City or Marawi City.
(August 26, 2005 issue)
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