War is not the only thing on our minds

Barangay Masulot, Sultan sa Barongis, Maguindanao - Hardened combatants of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the largest Islamic separatist group that operates in Southern Philippines , recently seemed to have momentarily forgotten about war as they helped the residents of this remote village clear their road to make their community more accessible. 

Slugging their firearms on one shoulder, they held picks and shovels with both hands.  

At the edge of Ligawasan Marsh, Masulot was once a battle zone between the Moro National Liberation Front, also an Islamic separatist group, and the government forces before the MNLF signed a peace agreement with the Philippine government in 1996. The villagers used to flee their homes when the fighting between these forces became intense. Even though the area is now a stronghold of the MILF, no evacuation has taken place here in three years and the residents are enjoying peace and order.  

Pining for development, the residents requested their municipal government for electric service. Their village being far from the grid, however, their request could not be granted.  

In March this year, the village was electrified with stand-alone solar home systems by the Alliance for Mindanao Off-grid Renewable Energy (AMORE) Program, a partnership of the U.S. Agency for International Development, Mirant Philippines Foundation, Inc., the Department of Energy, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, and the global non-profit organization, Winrock International.  

The systems, procured by Mirant from Shell Solar Philippines Corporation with a subsidy from the Philippine National Oil Company through its Solar Home Systems Distribution Program, are being partially paid by the 30 household recipients in monthly installments over five years. The money, however, goes into their Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Fund, to finance their procurement of more systems for other households in their community. They also agreed to make additional monthly contributions for the maintenance of their systems. To ensure the sustained collection of the funds and their proper management, AMORE organized the beneficiary households into a Barangay Renewable Energy and Community Development Association (BRECDA), which the Program is training to operate and maintain their systems, professionally manage their organization and their funds, and expand their development.  

The Masulot BRECDA is becoming a unifying force in the community. Barely eight months after it was organized, it already managed to build its own office for its meetings as well as for other community activities, with additional contributions from its members and on land donated by one of the members. The office has already been used as the venue for a school graduation.  

The BRECDA has also put up a communal farm, donated by its treasurer, which surrounds its office and is expected to turn up profits early next year. Meanwhile, the women BRECDA members organized themselves into a smaller group with their own membership fees and already managed to launch a fish drying project.  

The BRECDA members regularly meet to discuss how they can sustain not just their RE systems but also their other projects. “We are very keen on our members’ participation in all our meetings,” says BRECDA Chairperson Muktar Lidasan. “We strictly impose fines for non-attendance.”  

It was one of these meetings that the MILF Commander assigned to the barangay, Datu Abdul, attended. There, he heard about the BRECDA’s plan to clear three kilometers of road to make Masulot more accessible. Commander Abdul offered to ask his troops to help. The people were astounded yet overjoyed.