February 15, 2023. The project team is recently working for the strengthening/organizing and validation of cooperatives and its members who are among the major beneficiaries of the project.

As the implementing agency, the Bangsamoro Development Agency (BDA Inc.) has already mobilized its hired staff in meeting and courtesy with local government units and other stakeholders. Communities involved were also informed of the project during wide- orientations.

BDA Inc. likewise gained the continuing support and guidance of the Joint Task Force on Camps Transformation (JTFCT) through a meeting in January this year.

The agency has also witnessed handover and groundbreaking of some assistance.

As signed in the responsibility party agreement for the PROACTIVE between BDA Inc. and the UNDP Philippines, the program aims to contribute in enhancing local capacities to facilitate transition and transformation of the six (6) acknowledged camps of the MILF into peaceful and productive communities.

It is named as PROACTIVE: Programme on Assistance for Camp Transformation through Inclusion, Violence Prevention and Economic Empowerment. 

PROACTIVE is a collaborative programme of United Nation Development Programme (UNDP – Philippines) and the Bangsamoro Development Agency (BDA Inc.) under the European Union Framework for Assistance to Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Mindanao Peace and Development Programme - Peace and Development in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (MINPAD-PD BARMM).

The project will work on three components such as inclusive and sustainable livelihoods, initial peace dividends and strengthening social cohesion and community resilience.

It covers sixteen (16) villages across the six identified major camps of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) based on the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) namely Camp Abubakar As- Siddique, Camp Badre, Camp Bilal Bin Rabbah Darul Shuhadah, Camp Bushra Somiorang, Camp Omar Ibn Al-Khattab and Camp Rajamuda.

March 20, 2022. Improved road access, the chance to meet together despite the distance and pandemic and more of these stories manifest the significant progress and transformation happening in the camp communities once marginalized from development.

During the recent gathering of community volunteers and the transitioning combatants from the different villages covered under the six major camps of the Moro Islamic Liberation (MILF) on March 14-15, 2022 at Cotabato City, shared their narratives and experiences in relation to the on-going transformation in the camps.

“Before, the road going to Brgy. Tamparan in Munai, Lanao del Norte (Camp Bilal) was difficult and risky. Now, we are happy that there is a better road to reach the village, far from its condition, years ago”, Joint Task Force on Camps Transformation (JTFCT) Camp Bilal said.

Co-chairman of the JTFCT Camp Badre expressed that “Simple meeting like this activity is already significant for us. We are all comrades in this struggle, all worked as combatants but it was very rare that we meet because we are coming from different camps. But this project gathered us”.

This said gathering happened during the Project End Review and Reflection Session conducted in line with completion of the Camps of Learning Project (CLP)- a project that aims to promote inclusive peace through literacy in the Bangsamoro.

In the event, BDA together with partner and the participants reviewed the project implementation and drew lessons learned that shall be relevant to consider in the future. This was guided by the project development objectives, project steps, and was through a reflection session wherein the body identified what went well, and the areas that need be improved.

Took off in April 2021, CLP has touched the lives of many in the camps. The building of community learning centers equipped with complete facilities provided a permanent and convenient learning place for the learners who, before the project, have to run into any available facility in their village just to join the classes on Alternative Learning System (ALS).  

Attending and completing the ALS sessions helped promote peace with the beneficiaries feeling the empowerment and self- growth as they learn basic literacy such as writing their names by their own, counting numbers, reading and writing few basic words.

Learner from Camp Abubakar is confident that by the coming national and local election in the country, people can read their names from the voters’ list as they can now write to cast their votes.

From Camp Badre, the learner is grateful that even without a degree, the project brought them education and made them experienced studying and learning at school through the ALS.

As the project also carried skills training for the beneficiaries, people in Camp Bilal are thankful that aside from basic literacy, they also learned additional knowledge and skills that is helpful to augment their daily income.

For the people in Camp Rajamuda, the learning they acquired from the project will never be forgotten.

Camp Omar is likewise in gratitude for the project that served as bridge for the people to learn.

Learner in Camp Bushra is happy that the literacy sessions are completed.

CLP is formally closing this March 2022 leaving fully equipped learning centers across the six major camps of the MILF. The project hopes that the facility shall be used in the future in bringing literacy, empowerment and development in the lives of the people in the camps, long been deprived of such services due to the war in the past.

There were 480 learners who successfully completed the ALS and are now confident having the ability to read, write and count.

The implementation of ALS in camp communities was guided by the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) signed with the Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education (MBHTE- BARMM) for areas under the Bangsamoro Region. Communities outside the region like Brgy. Inug-ug in Pikit is coordinated with the Department of Education- North Cotabato Division (Region XII) and Lanao del Norte Division (Region IX) for Brgy. Tamparan in Munai. 

Further, the project was in support to the Normalization Annex of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB).

CLP is funded by Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID).

February 2, 2022. In the remote communities in Mindanao, particularly Bangsamoro Region, access to basic services like education and health remains deprived, although with significant improvement considering the continuing development assistance from various donor organizations. This has become more apparent now with the Bangsamoro Government now established anticipated to be responsive to the needs of the people in the region, long been wedged by decades of armed conflict.

On education, (as per the results of its Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media Survey by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in 2019), that by region, Metro Manila posted the highest functional literacy rate of 96.5%, while the lowest was recorded in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) with 71.6%.

Of this number Sally Bandara, 30, a Teduray from Brgy. Datalpandan, Guindulungan in Maguindanao (within MILF Camp Badre) can be counted among the illiterate groups.

Teduray is among the tribes identified as indigenous people.

Sally says that because of distance and access, being in the mountains, they did not get education.

“Our ancestors were illiterate, because of that, our parents did not allow us to study”, Sally stated.

With the construction of community learning center in their village in Brgy. Datalpandan, Guindulungan in Maguindanao (within MILF Camp Badre), and the implementation of Alternative Learning System (ALS), Sally feels positive about getting education.

“Back then, we used to run from the school because of ignorance, but now, it is the school that comes to us. You have given us this CLC with teachers who are walking on different roads just to reach us for education”, she expressed.

Sally is very happy that she is now learning to write her own name, that she will no longer rely on thumbmark to affix her signature.

Education was also impossible for a combatant like Taha Gawang, 51, Maguindanaon, who is residing from the same village of Sally.

He said “it is due to poverty and war in the past that I did not get education”.

Now, through the ALS, Taha can write his own name and is happy that recently, he was able to write his name when he registered to receive money from a relative abroad, unlike before where he can only do thumbmark.

“Staff from the remittance center was also surprised when they saw me writing my name”, Taha happily shared.

Adullah H.Esmail, the instructional manager, said that Taha is among the transitioning combatants of the MILF, and does farming to sustain his family of eight.

This particular implementation of ALS in camp communities is under the Camps of Learning Project (CLP) that aims to promote peace and inclusion through basic literacy in the Bangsamoro. The project is funded by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (#AECID).

Baidido Malignan, 45, a Maguindanaon is also an ALS learner registered under the project. She is enrolled at the CLC in Camp Omar, specifically in Brgy. Saniag, Ampatuan, Maguindanao.

Baidido narrated that she was not able to get education because she has to help her father in the farm, where they get a living for their family of five.

“I joined ALS to learn writing and reading”, she said.

According to Datufaizal Macacana, the instructional manager of Baidido, she can now write her name along with other few words. Also, albeit slowly, Baidido can now read.

Baidido is a widow and is selling a pastil (a rice with shredded chicken wrapped in banana leaf) to provide for her children. 

ALS in camp communities is also giving hope to the youth. In Brgy. Tamparan, Munai, Lanao del Norte (belong to MILF Camp Bilal), Abdani Deki and Diya U. Mamaki are both timid during ALS sessions but are appreciative when Aisah Acob, the IM teaches them one-on-one.

Now, they can write their own names and other few words. Aisah reported that the two have significant improvement on penmanship, even better than hers, but remains slow in reading activities. She hopes that by the end of the project, the learners will be able to read sentences.

Under the CLP, there are four hundred eight (480) number of ALS learners across the six major camps of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) where the project is being implemented. 

They are vulnerable sectors in the community like women, out-of-school youth, elderlies, indigenous people and others who were not able to get formal education due to poverty, difficult access and armed conflict in the past years.

It is noted that the implementation of ALS in camp communities is well- coordinated with the BARMM’s Education Ministry for the areas under the Bangsamoro Region. Communities outside the region like Brgy. Inug-ug in Pikit is coordinated with the Department of Education- North Cotabato Division (Region XII) and Lanao del Norte Division (Region IX) for Brgy. Tamparan in Munai. 

With the Bangsamoro Development Agency (BDA Inc.) as the Project Implementing Unit (PIU), the project is funded by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID).

November 5, 2021. Datufaizal Macacana 36, (2^nd photo below), travels from Poblacion, Datu Odin Sinsuat in Maguindanao to Brgy. Saniag, Ampatuan in the same province from Monday to Thursday to fulfill his responsibility as Instructional Manager (IM) to the learners of the Alternative Learning System (ALS)- a component of the Camps of Learning Project that promotes literacy in communities within the six major camps of the MILF acknowledged in the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB).

He started working as an IM for ALS in camp communities, particularly in Camp Omar in year 2019. Faizal understands the complexity of working in remote areas, especially in a camp, known to be a battlefield during the armed- conflicts in the past years. For him, he chose this job in belief that he can help serve those people who did not have education due to war in the past.

Faizal was a 4th year in secondary education when he learned about the conflict in Mindanao, particularly in Bangsamoro where he was born. “My father was often on duty in Camp Abubakar those times, for many months, so I knew and understand the struggle of the Bangsamoro”, he stated.

With his job as IM at present, Faizal feels good for the experience of being able to work with the local government unit (LGU) and the people in community.

He wishes enlightenment for his learners about the importance of education.

“I hope that I can help them be motivated towards education, that poverty is not a hindrance to learn, because at present, there are many opportunities in the Bangsamoro, that can assist people to improve their lives”, Faizal told.

Colleagues of Datufaizal for literacy sessions in Camps Omar are Aisa Mantikayan, Noraina Sambad and Nor-ain Kaliman.

Meanwhile, a colleague of Faizal from Lanao del Norte, named Aisah Acob, 29 also shares story of her work as IM in the remote village within the Camp Bilal, particularly in Brgy. Tamparan, Munai, Lanao del Norte.

For Aisah, what she loves most about her role as IM is being able to be an instrument in providing learning for those people who did not have the chance because of the war, poverty and low access to basic services.

She hopes that by teaching, her learners would learn things that are useful for daily lives.

“I want them not just a reader but a leader in the future. I use the quote “Be a READER today, tomorrow a LEADER”, for them because I have this learner who is a barangay councilor.  She cannot read even simple words and sentences, only understands simple Filipino words. And for that she cannot fully participate in the development of the community because she is not confident and capable enough due to poor literacy”, Aisah stated.

In Camp Bilal, Aisah is joined by Norayah Mananggolo, Ibrahim Dangcogan and Aslimah Maminta.

Amerah Anta, 40, is also an IM working for the ALS learners in Brgy. Inug-ug, Pikit, North Cotabato, a village within the MILF’s Camp Rajamuda.

She shared that facilitating the learning session for the learners in a camp community is not easy. But her years of experience in the job, since 2016, equipped her with more knowledge and determination- moreover, knowing and understanding that this is part of her contribution to the Bangsamoro struggle.

“I wish that they will all complete this program, and whatever they learn from ALS will be significant in their lives”, Amerah expressed.

In Camp Rajamuda, Amera is working with Shaffreah Kuta, Sulaipa Unggui and Layra Mahmod.

Bedorie Panaudan, 34, has been working as an IM in Camp Bushra since 2016. Being an IM, she is very happy for the ability to share knowledge.

“I am happier when I see their eagerness to learn. Through this ALS, I can help in giving hope to the people in camp communities”, she stated.

Bedorie is working with Yasmin Abdulmanan, Mojahid Magazoga and Saniah Oga are facilitating the ALS classes in Camp Bushra.

Another IM, Sabrina Masacal, 25, is facilitating ALS sessions in Camp Abubakar, particularly Brgy. Tabuan, Kapatagan, Lanao del Sur.

She said that she loves doing community services. Sabrina is a social worker and applied for this job knowing that she can help those people who are in remote areas by sharing knowledge.

“I wish that my learners will acquire knowledge that they can use for their selves and have the courage to do what they wanted in life”, Sabrina told.

Sabrina is working with Noraina Mamantek, Analiza Pagayawan and Samera Bagnas. In Camp Abubakar.  

ALS facilitators in Camp Badre namely Abdullah H.Esmail, Kalindato Bato, Zainudin Kusain and Muslimin Abdul have to cross a river to reach their learners in the remote village of Brgy. Datalpandan, Guindulungan, Maguindanao, including the indigenous people community- who are thankful for reaching out to them despite the distance to bring them literacy.

At present, there are four hundred eight (480) number of ALS learners across the six major camps of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) where the CLP is being implemented. 

They are vulnerable sectors in the community like women, out-of-school youth, elderlies, indigenous people and others who were not able to get formal education due to poverty, difficult access and armed conflict in the past years.

It is noted that the implementation of ALS in camp communities is well- coordinated with the BARMM’s Education Ministry for the areas under the Bangsamoro Region. Communities outside the region like Brgy. Inug-ug in Pikit is with the Department of Education- North Cotabato Division (Region XII) and Lanao del Norte Division (Region IX) for Brgy. Tamparan in Munai. 

CLP is a project "Promoting Peace and Inclusion Through Basic Literacy in the Bangsamoro" with the Bangsamoro Development Agency (BDA Inc.) as project implementing unit (PIU). 

The project is funded by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID).