COTABATO CITY (November 26, 2023) – With the Bangsamoro Government’s commitment to bringing quality, first-class, and fast medical services to its constituents, the Office of MP Atty. Mary Ann M. Arnado launched its Medical Outreach Program (MOP) at Pagana Hotel and Restaurant on November 24, this City.
MP Atty. Arnado’s office said that the initiative was made possible through the Ministry of Health- Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (MOH-BARMM) and partnership with the Mercury Drug Corporation.
Narciso Jover Jr., MP Arnado’s office’s focal person for the said program, presented the mechanisms on how to access medical assistance to its community implementing partners in the Bangsamoro region. The Mercury Drug Corporation has committed to be the official pharmacy where the Bangsamoro constituents can purchase medicines and supplies.
Meantime, the Office of MP Atty. Mary Ann Arnado also launched its “Pera sa Pusaw” project- a livelihood project harnessing the potential of water hyacinths or locally known as pusaw as a source of sustainable and environment-friendly solid fuels, commonly known as “charcoal briquettes.”
The program is in partnership with the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MENRE).
The three-day “Training of Trainers on Charcoal Briquette Making” was held at Camp Darapanan, Maguindanao Del Norte, last November 21-23, that benefitted sixty (60) personnel and members of the Social Welfare Committee (SWC) and Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF) of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) with the help of resource persons who came from Taguig City.
Office of MP Atty. Arnado said that among the activities for the said training include the Preparation of raw materials, Instructional demonstration of equipment, Preparation of water hyacinth briquettes for packaging, and Marketing and business profitability.
It said further that the Ministry of Science and Technology has already expressed its commitment to replicating or fabricating more machinery for charcoal production.
Moreover, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources supported the program by partnering with their BIAF communities and forest rangers to produce charcoal briquettes and gather raw materials.
“The training is only the start of the project. And we are very much looking forward to its successful adaptation in the region”, Office of Atty. Arnado says.
Pera sa Pusaw envisions tackling two significant problems with a single technology: to address the problem of flooding in the region by converting pusaw into something that can be a source of income and to reduce the production of harmful gasses that destroy our environment by using a cheaper and cleaner energy source.
As part of MP Atty. Arnado’s commitment to extend inclusive services, on November 22, the Office of MP Atty. Mary Ann Arnado, in partnership with the Ministry of Public Order and Safety (MPOS), provided personal hygiene kits and food packs to 200 Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDL) to address the immediate humanitarian needs of detained men and women at Cotabato City Jail.
This initiative is part of the 2023 special projects implemented by the Office of MP Arnado in partnership with the various BARMM frontline ministries through the Bangsamoro regional government’s Transitional Development Impact Fund (TDIF). (Tu Alid Alfonso, BMN/BangsamoroToday)
