Mayor Bud leads orientation for 47 Newly Elected Brgy. Captains

Mayor Hans orients the 47 Newly Elected Brgy. Captains about Western Basilan Alliance

Last August 14, 2018, the 47 newly elected Punong Barangays coming from the 5 (five) municipalities of Maluso, Tabuan Lasa, Hji. Muhtamad, Lantawan and Sumisip were gathered for the Consultation and Orientation of Modeling Inter-LGU Alliance in Basilan (MILAB) and Western Basilan Alliance (WBA) at Querexeta Formation Center, Isabela City, Basilan.

Mr. Ramil Tarami, the Technical Officer of MILAB Project, expounded the purpose of the consultation and orientation. First is to introduce the concept of Western Basilan Alliance and its initial strategic plan as well as to present to the participants the Agencia Espaῆola Cooperacion Internacional para el Desarollo (AECID) funded MILAB Project and how this will support the WBA as a development platform. And to familiarize participants with the Western Basilan Alliance priorities on Fisheries, Agriculture, Environment, Peace and Order, Good Governance, Education, Health, and Eco-Tourism. 

Modeling Inter-LGU Alliance in Basilan (MILAB) was introduced by Mr. Noor Saada, the Project Manager of the said project. As explained by Mr. Noor, the project is managed by Institute for Autonomy and Governance (IAG) in partnership with Zamboanga Basilan Integrated Development Alliance (ZABIDA). The project began last October 2017 and will end up by March of 2019. Its objective is to support the institutionalization of the Western Basilan Alliance as an inter-LGU model in the pursuit of common local development agenda.

The beloved mayor of Maluso, Hon. Hanie A. Bud gave an orientation regarding Western Basilan Alliance (WBA). According to Mayor Hans, during the inception workshop, WBA envisions the five municipalities to become models of peaceful municipalities in Basilan and to be prosperous, founded on good governance and sustainable economy. The vision that they have come up is in line with the vision of the province. He then enlightened them with the 6 (six) priorities of WBA which are Fisheries, Agriculture, Environment, Peace and Order, Good Governance, Education, Health, and Eco-Tourism. Mayor Hanie added that everyone must promote the eco-tourism in the province. The eco-tourism was included thru the initiative of the Provincial Governor, Hon. Jim Hataman. According to him when a place is peaceful many visitors will be interested to visit it. In Maluso alone, even foreigners come to visit the beautiful sceneries. He even added, in 2015, Basilan is included in the 20 poorest provinces in the country but hopefully with the help of WBA by 2020 Basilan will be out of the list. 

Later on, a workshop was done by consulting the newly elected punong barangays regarding the 6 (six) priorities. 

As an impression towards the activity Hon. Abdulhasan Isseck from Sumisip expressed, “Hopefully after this consultation, we will continue to serve our community well for the benefit of all, most especially as newly elected official.”