What once ranked eighth in the list of the 10 poorest barangays in Lanao del Sur is now one of the most progressive, virtually made progressive the "bayanihan" style by feuding Maranaw families that were so hostile to each other before.
It was only when residents in Barangay Micolabo in Picong, Lanao del Sur decided to unite and cohesively address underdevelopment, as a consequence of clan wars involving local families that peace and development started to spread in their villages.
It was Barangay Micolabo's being so poor and for having been previously dubbed "wild, wild west" of Picong town that enticed the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) to intervene, through the conduit for its projects in the South, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Social Fund Project (ASFP).
Both JBIC and World Bank channel through the ASFP their assistance to impoverished communities in the South.
Bai Annie Ampuan, who monitors all Japanese-assisted projects of ASFP in Lanao del Sur, said it was for the mandatory involvement of local villagers in the construction of a barangay health station, a communal coconut dyer, and a multi-purpose center that virtually forced residents in Micolabo to forget about their bloody clan wars, come together and manage the three projects by themselves.
The ASFP is jointly managed by ARMM Gov. Datu Zaldy Ampatuan, lawyer Mustapha Sambolawan and the ASFP's finance director, Alejando Coscos.
The ARMM police have pegged to 2,300 the number of loose firearms in Micolabo just a year before the JBIC came in to intervene.
"Life was so miserable in Barangay Micolabo then. We lived in fear, in dire poverty and there was immense feeling of neglect by government," Maranaw farmer Gandasuri Mamacotao, 50, said in the vernacular.
Local officials said the construction by feuding Micolabo residents of a communal coconut dryer have ushered in dramatic improvements in the area's economy.
The ARMM's trade and industry, and agriculture departments have both recorded a sharp upswing in the production of copra from Barangay Micolabo in the past eight months.
"The copra coming from that area are now well-dried and, thus, have high commercial value," said the ARMM's agriculture secretary, Kesie Usman.
Corrine Tabua, who is the provincial social welfare officer of Lanao del Sur's Area B, which covers more than a dozen towns in the second district of the province, said credit also goes to the women of Barangay Micolabo, who provided extensive support to the construction of the three community-planned projects.
"You can even see the women in the area now attending peace dialogues at the newly-built multi-purpose center at the heart of Barangay Micolabo," Tabua said.
Tabua said people in Micolabo now no longer carry guns when they roam around, only farming tools. "Peace and development have set that barangay in sooner than we expected," he said.
It was only when residents in Barangay Micolabo in Picong, Lanao del Sur decided to unite and cohesively address underdevelopment, as a consequence of clan wars involving local families that peace and development started to spread in their villages.
It was Barangay Micolabo's being so poor and for having been previously dubbed "wild, wild west" of Picong town that enticed the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) to intervene, through the conduit for its projects in the South, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Social Fund Project (ASFP).
Both JBIC and World Bank channel through the ASFP their assistance to impoverished communities in the South.
Bai Annie Ampuan, who monitors all Japanese-assisted projects of ASFP in Lanao del Sur, said it was for the mandatory involvement of local villagers in the construction of a barangay health station, a communal coconut dyer, and a multi-purpose center that virtually forced residents in Micolabo to forget about their bloody clan wars, come together and manage the three projects by themselves.
The ASFP is jointly managed by ARMM Gov. Datu Zaldy Ampatuan, lawyer Mustapha Sambolawan and the ASFP's finance director, Alejando Coscos.
The ARMM police have pegged to 2,300 the number of loose firearms in Micolabo just a year before the JBIC came in to intervene.
"Life was so miserable in Barangay Micolabo then. We lived in fear, in dire poverty and there was immense feeling of neglect by government," Maranaw farmer Gandasuri Mamacotao, 50, said in the vernacular.
Local officials said the construction by feuding Micolabo residents of a communal coconut dryer have ushered in dramatic improvements in the area's economy.
The ARMM's trade and industry, and agriculture departments have both recorded a sharp upswing in the production of copra from Barangay Micolabo in the past eight months.
"The copra coming from that area are now well-dried and, thus, have high commercial value," said the ARMM's agriculture secretary, Kesie Usman.
Corrine Tabua, who is the provincial social welfare officer of Lanao del Sur's Area B, which covers more than a dozen towns in the second district of the province, said credit also goes to the women of Barangay Micolabo, who provided extensive support to the construction of the three community-planned projects.
"You can even see the women in the area now attending peace dialogues at the newly-built multi-purpose center at the heart of Barangay Micolabo," Tabua said.
Tabua said people in Micolabo now no longer carry guns when they roam around, only farming tools. "Peace and development have set that barangay in sooner than we expected," he said.
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