RESIDENTS of Matilac, Pigcawayan cluster in Special Geographic Area (SGA) gathered in front of their newly constructed village hall to witness its inauguration on Monday, June 26, 2023.
Matilac Village Chief Esmael Talusan, was quite emotional as he received the P3.5 million two-storey facility funded by the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
“Maraming salamat po sa BARMM Government dahil sa wakas, meron na po kaming magandang baranggay hall (Thank you very much to the BARMM Government because finally, we have a beautiful barangay hall),” Talusan said.
Lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo, Minister of the Interior and Local Government, said the construction of village halls across different parts of the region is a strategy of the Government of the Day to enhance local-level governance.
“Ang barangay ang pinakamaliit na yunit ng gobyerno na madali niyong malapitan kaya mahalaga na meron kayo nito (The barangay is the smallest government unit that you can easily approach so it is important that you have one),” Sinarimbo said.
Sinarimbo, who grew up in the adjacent village, reckoned and shared before the crowd the unwanted fate of the area during the war.
"Alam natin na noong panahon ng gyera, halos nasira lahat ng infrastructures dito kasama na ang mga kabahayan, kaya ngayon may pagkakataon na tayo, aayusin natin ito (We know that during the war, almost all the infrastructures here were destroyed including the houses, so now we have a chance, we will fix it)," he said.
SGA is composed of 63 former areas or villages carved out of North Cotabato and became the official territory of BARMM after a successful plebiscite on February 6, 2019.
Of the total, 62 villages received the same barangay hall from BARMM. (SunStar Zamboanga)