THE Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Barmm), through the peacebuilding towards normalization program of the Ministry of Public Order and Safety (MPOS), has released some P600,000 financial aid to former combatants of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Lawyer Al-Rashid Balt, MPOS director-general, said some 60 former MILF combatants from Camps Bilal and Busrah in Lanao provinces each received P10,000 financial aid from the MPOS.

Balt said the intervention is intended for the vulnerable and marginalized sectors, such as the MILF combatants who did not qualify in the decommissioning program of the national government.

Balt and Peace Program Officer Sittie Janine Gamao led the distribution of cash assistance to the beneficiaries on Sunday, October 31, in Marawi City.

Gamao told the former MILF combatants that Barmm will continuously help those who have struggled to achieve sustainable peace in the region.

She said they target to provide financial aid to 180 former combatants from the six MILF recognized camps in the region as embodied in Executive Order 79 under the Annex on Normalization.

Gamao said the identified beneficiaries will go through profiling, capacity building, listening sessions, social healing and provision of assistance.

Meanwhile, the MPOS is also set to distribute similar cash aid to beneficiaries in Camp Abubakar in Barira municipality and Camp Rajamuda in Pikit town on November 9, while former combatants in Camp Omar in Datu Hoffer and Camp Badre will receive theirs on November 10.

Barmm Members of Parliament Basit Abbas and Abdullah Macapaar witnessed the distribution of financial aid on Sunday, October 31, in Marawi City. (SunStar Zamboanga)