AS PART of the government’s efforts to encourage terrorists to embrace peace, the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Barmm) has provided cash and food aid to 24 former Dawlah Islamiya-Maute Group (DI-MG) members in Lanao.

The cash and food aid were given to the 24 former DI-MG members through Project TuGON of the Ministry of Interior and Local Government in Barmm (MILG-Barmm).

Each of the 24 former DI-MG members had 50 kilograms of rice, food package, gallons of alcohol and P5,000 cash.

Project TuGoN or “Tulong ng Gobyernong Nagmamalasakit” is a MILG-Barmm project that respond to the needs of former DI-MG as they go mainstream.

The project TuGON provided profiling and distribution of assistance to former DI-MG who have decided to return to normal and law-abiding life.

“The profiling allows us to carefully design appropriate socio-economic interventions to better their lives and their families,” said Michael Laguilay, public safety division chief of MILG-Lanao del Sur.

Zaide Amel, TuGON project manager, said they will continue to distribute assistance to former DI-MG members to encourage others to return to the folds of the law and live in peace and harmony together with their families.

Aside from Laguilay and Amel, the distribution of the cash and food aid was facilitated by the 103rd Infantry Brigade, through its Civil-Military Office headed by Lieutenant Colonel Palawan Miondas and other officials of the MILF-Barmm.

Meanwhile, Brigadier General Jose Maria Cuerpo II, 103rd Infantry Brigade commander, said they will continue to collaborate with its partner stakeholders to give hope to all former rebels to have a livelihood and humanitarian assistance in order to transform them into more productive and law-aiding citizens. (SunStar Zamboanga)