By Ali Macabalang and Nonoy Lacson, Manila Bulletin

Cotabato City – Top officials of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and mayors of three pilot towns in Sulu have signed a Memorandum of Agreement for the implementation of the “Apat Dapat” program, a poverty-alleviation initiative focusing on the region’s 600 poorest families.

Vice Governor Haroun Alrashid Lucman Jr., ARMM Executive Secretary Laisa Alamia, Regional Interior and Local Government Director Noor Hafizullah Abdullah, and Regional Chief Planner Baintan Amapatuan led the MOA signing at the Bajao Hall in the Office of the Regional Governor (ORG) here, Monday. Also present were Municipal mayors Madzhar Loong of Parang, Hatta Berto of Pandami and Nivcanezar Tulawie of Talipao who signed the deal for the implementation of the special program in their respective towns.

The initiative, under the ARMM’s Bangsamoro Regional Inclusive Development Program, will complement ongoing poverty alleviation initiatives. It carries out a “four for the poor formula” which includes a family’s four basic needs such as food, water, light, and shelter, he said.

BPI Executive Director Amir Mawallil said the program seeks to ensure that target families are “housed in secure homes with water and sanitation system and a basic lighting facility while providing them with the means to expand their livelihood and achieve food sufficiency along the way.” Meanwhile, Alamia said the regional government allocated P240 million for the implementation of the program from 2015 to 2016 to cover 15 pilot towns across the region; three in each of the five ARMM component province of Sulu, Basilan, Tawi –Tawi, Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur.