COTABATO CITY – Relief workers from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) have delivered Monday the second wave of relief assistance to families displaced or affected by the pandemic across the region and by calamities, officials said Tuesday.
The BARMM Rapid Emergency Action on Disaster Incidence (BARMM-READI) has been extending relief assistance the past two months to 54,081 families from the provinces of North Cotabato, Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Sulu, and Cotabato City who were affected by recent flooding in the region, according to lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo.
Sinarimbo, BARMM interior and local government minister, said the initial batch of relief distribution was held in October that benefited some 13,000 households in the municipalities of Pigcawayan and Midsayap, North Cotabato where each family received ten kilos of rice and canned goods.
In the same month, the humanitarian operation also aided 17,000 households in 13 villages in Pikit, also in North Cotabato.
As Typhoon Rolly hit the country last month, Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur’s low-lying areas were submerged by floods.
BARMM coordinated and led other BARMM humanitarian agencies in extending aid to flood victims in the two provinces.
Sinarimbo said to date, out of 75,933 affected households in the region, 43,369 families are still unserved.
“During disasters and emergencies, BARMM has always been proactive in extending relief and long-term assistance in the region,” Sinarimbo, also BARMM spokesperson, said.
He added that the regional leadership remains steadfast in ensuring that every constituent will be served, especially during this time of the pandemi
