ARMM officials plant bamboo trees beside historic Mamasapano river

COTABATO CITY– In a bid to prevent frequent occurrence of soil erosion and flooding in Mamasapano in the province of Maguindanao, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) conducted a bamboo planting activity in the town’s riverbank on Thursday, September 3.The regional government mobilized hundreds of officials and employees including the youth sector, civil society organizations, policemen, and soldiers to plant about 500 young bamboos.The activity was spearheaded by the ARMM’s Regional Planning and Development Office (RPDO-ARMM) in partnership with the region’s environment and natural resources department. Bamboo is a good soil conservation plant. With its widespread root system, it can provide an effective erosion control. It sustains riverbanks and serves as good windbreaks,” said Domingo Dagadas of the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office.Engr. Baintan Adil-Ampatuan, RPDO-ARMM executive director, underscored that this activity would also instil awareness on the value of volunteerism in the community in protecting the environment.The bamboo planting activity is one of the flagship projects identified under the ARMM-Humanitarian Development Action Plan (ARMM-HDAP) for 2015-2016. The plan aims at establishing a systematic and coordinated approach in addressing and mitigating the effects of disasters and calamities.Part of the plan is bamboo planting activity in the fifteen (15) municipalities in Maguindanao that are affected by the law enforcement operations againstthe Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.Lawyer Laisa Alamia, ARMM executive secretary, said that the overall goal of the ARMM-HDAP is to help improve the living condition of the communities affected by calamities and build resilient and empowered communities in a secured environment.” Gapya gid I ginawa nami endu masla I kapedsukul nami sabap sa da kami pandaya nu ARMM government (We are happy and thankful because the ARMM government took care of us),” said Esmael Hasim, chairman of Brgy. Tukanalipao. Ya nami katig kanu mapasang a nanggula siya kanu January, na di kami den makatindeg uged na makin migkabagel e pamusungan nami sabap sa madakel e tabang a nakauma sa lekami (We thought, we will never recover after the tragic incident on January but we became more hopeful because of the continuous assistance to us),” Hasim added.