Model Yakan village in Cotabato City an inspiration for Basilan residents

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Residents of Basilan want the model Yakan village here duplicated in their island province as symbol of the province's desire to bounce back from conflicts and underdevelopment.

The model Yakan, Tausug, Maguindanao, Sama and Maranaw villages inside the 32-hectare regional capitol here of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao were built as showcases of the diversity of the peoples in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Barangay captains from Lamitan City, capital of Basilan, hosted this week the activities in the Yakan village, which is open to the public daily.

The barangay officials told reporters Saturday they want a similar model village built in Basilan province, which is seeing renewed interest from investors.

Even Vice President Leni Robredo, who was here Thursday, was amazed at the model villages that she toured along with regional officials led by ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman.

The designated chieftain of the Yakan model village is Laisa Masuhud-Alamia, a nurse and lawyer who is executive secretary of the ARMM government.

Robredo said ARMM residents should continue helping push the southern Mindanao peace process forward for normalcy to spread through the region’s five provinces—Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

ARMM’s Muslim, Christian and Lumad residents are main stakeholders to the ongoing peace process between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Robredo said good governance will complement efforts to address the nagging security problems in areas of the autonomous region.

Robredo cited as example the improvements in peace and order in Basilan that were brought by efficient governance there.

"Based on conversations with Basilan residents, the level of satisfaction is high. Hopes are high too that there are peaceful and good days for them ahead," Robredo told reporters at the ARMM capitol.

Infrastructure development in Basilan

She said the infrastructure projects implemented in Basilan by the current ARMM administration in recent years had ushered in improvements in the area’s security and economy.

Lamitan City barangay officials who helped oversee this week the construction of the Yakan village said putting up model Yakan, Tausug and Sama villages in Basilan will help educate outsiders on how the three communities and their Christian neighbors are together working for peace to reign in the province.

While the Yakan people comprise the majority in Basilan, the island province is also home to Tausug, Sama and non-Muslim residents such as Zamboangueños and Visayan settlers from the nearby Zamboanga peninsula.

Lamitan City Vice Mayor Roderick Furigay said Saturday there are many scenic areas in their 45 barangays where model villages can be established.

Among the potential sites for the model villages is the immediate periphery of the provincial ARMM government center being constructed by the office of Hataman in Barangay Santa Clara in Lamitan City.

“We have a reformist and visionary ARMM governor who is likely to give attention to our wish. We, in Lamitan City, are ready to help him put up one,” Furigay said.

Gov. Hataman running for Congress

Furigay said the participation of the city's barangay officials in managing the activities this week of the Yakan model village was also to manifest support for Hataman's candidacy for congressional representative of the lone district of Basilan.

Hataman is running for a seat in congress in the May 2019 elections. He said the move is meant to pave the way for a smooth transition from the present regional government to a transitory MILF-led government for a new region that will replace the ARMM.

The enabling measure for ARMM's replacement with a Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, or BARMM—the Bangsamoro Organic Law—will be ratified in a plebiscite on January 21 next year.

The referendum, to be administered by the Commission on Elections, will seal the fate of the BOL, which is the product of years of peace negotiations.

“He (Hataman) will do a homecoming after serving as ARMM governor for six years and that is something we are so happy about,” Furigay said.

Hataman, who first ventured into politics as Anak Mindanao party-list representative almost two decades ago, hails from Sumisip town in Basilan.