Former Abu Sayyaf get Eid'l Fitr gifts from government

BASILAN, Philippines — Officials distributed food rations to 174 former Abu Sayyaf members in a confidence-building engagement here Sunday.

Gen. Juvymax Uy of the 104th Brigade and Gov. Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao led the distribution of rice and other provisions to the former bandits, among them teens now enrolled in public schools.

The 174 erstwhile violent religious extremists, some trained in the fabrication of improvised explosive devices, surrendered in batches in the past 24 months through the efforts of ARMM’s inter-agency regional peace and order council and different battalions of the 104th Brigade.

Uy, who has tactical control over military units in different towns in Basilan, said he is grateful to the ARMM government for embarking on the Eid’l Fitr gift-giving event at the headquarters of the 4th Special Forces Battalion in Isabela City.

Muslims celebrated on Friday the Eid’l Fitr that marked the culmination of the Islamic Ramadhan fasting season that started on May 17.

"This activity, related to the celebration of Eid’l Fitr, can help prove to these former religious extremists that the ARMM government and the Armed Forces are both sincere in reintegrating them into the communities in Basilan province," Uy said Sunday, referring to the distribution of food supplies to the former Abu Sayyaf members.

Besides the socio-economic interventions being extended to them by the ARMM government, the 174 former Abu Sayyaf members have also been promised core shelters that are now being built by Hataman’s office.

Uy said among the service facets of the Hataman administration helping usher them to mainstream society is ARMM’s Bangsamoro Regional Inclusive Development for Growth and Empowerment program.

The program provides poor sectors in Basilan and other parts of the autonomous region with food, shelter, clean water and electricity.

ARMM officials and personnel of the Basilan District Engineering Office are constructing more than a hundred houses in different towns in the province for the Abu Sayyaf members who have surrendered and pledged allegiance to the government.

"We have been receiving more surrender feelers lately from hardcore Abu Sayyaf members out there who must have heard stories telling how their former companions are now starting to have normal lives with the help of the regional government and the military," Uy said.