Kolambugan Mayor Bertrand Lumaque, Mei Solocasa, Teresita Tuburan, and Kriz Cruzado during the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement between the Municipal Government of Kolambugan and PBCI
Kolambugan, Lanao del Norte—The Municipality of Kolambugan, represented by Mayor Bertrand Lumaque; and PeaceBuilders Community Inc. (PBCI), represented by Krizanti Cruzado signed a Memorandum of Agreement for an Institutional Partnership on May 1O, 2011 at the Municipal Mayor’s Office.The partnership focuses on the major Peace and Reconciliation (PAR) Programs—Peacebuilding HealthCare Program, PAR Fair Trade Coffee Farming, Transitional Justice Initiative, and other Socio-economic and Environmental Development Programs geared towards the attainment of the Sustainable Integrated Area Development of the municipality.
PBCI’s first outreach program in Kolambugan was in September, 2008; a month after the August 18, 2008 attack of a lawless armed group in this municipality. A Healthcare Program in partnership with ECOWeb, a development non-government organization and Reach International, a ministrybased healthcare organization, was then implemented on March, 2009.
The HealthCare Program was successful, with 21 active Community-based PAR HealthCare Volunteers, opening the doors for more relationship building opportunities within the community, and cross-cultural exchanges between the Muslim Maranaos and Christian Migrants. PBCI experienced challenges during the implementation of our programs, but they were immediately corrected and helped improve our strategies.
After two years of working together, the Municipal Government of Kolambugan and PBCI decided to take a step further in institutionalizing the partnership for more programs and endeavors to work together.
The signing of the Memorandum of Agreement was witnessed by Teresita Tuburan, Kolambugan’s Municipal Social Welfare and Development Officer and Mei Solocasa, PBCI’s Mindanao PeaceBuilding Coordinator.
Reported and written by: Mei Solocasa, Mindanao Peacebuilding Coordinator
