Cotabato city: The Ministry of Health in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (MOH-BARMM) alongside three Bangsamoro regional lawmakers have handed over 12 lifesaving vehicles and a cadaver transport vehicle to various hospitals and health stations across the region.
According to Philippines News Agency, the vehicles were procured through the Transitional Development Impact Fund 2025 Supplemental Fund, facilitated by Bangsamoro Parliament Members Suharto Ambolodto, Mohammad Kelie U. Antao, Suwaib Oranon, Alindatu K. Pagayao, and Susana Anayatin.
The procurement includes eight monitoring vehicles, three land-based medical ambulances, one patient transport vehicle, and one cadaver transport vehicle, totaling approximately PHP25 million. "This initiative aims to transport patients fast and safely and to respond in times of calamity," the MOH-BARMM stated on Tuesday.
The lifesaving vehicles have been allocated to the Cotabato Sanitarium Hospital, Rural Health Unit (RHU) of Malidegao in the BARMM Special Geographic Area (SGA), Bangsamoro Outside Communities RHU Libungan, RHU Kadayangan SGA, RHU Nabalawag SGA, and the Barangay Health Station (BHS) Libungan Toreta Pahamuddin SGA. Additional beneficiaries include BHS Mudseng Kadayangan SGA, RHU Kapalawan SGA, RHU Tugunan SGA, Iranon District Hospital, BHS Limbayang Parang Maguindanao Del Norte, Eros Medical Clinic and Hospital, and the Office for Settler Communities. The turnover ceremony took place on Monday at the BARMM administrative center.
In a related development, the Ministry of Social Services and Development (MSSD-BARMM) has dispatched more food and non-food items to residents affected by a fire in Tawi-Tawi. Relief goods were transported via a Philippine Air Force C-130 aircraft from Cotabato City to Sanga-Sanga Airport in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi on Monday afternoon.
MSSD-BARMM Minister Raissa Jajurie reported that with the assistance of military personnel, the team successfully unloaded supplies including 150 boxes of family food packs, 150 sacks of 25-kilogram rice, and 600 boxes of sleeping kits. Additionally, school supplies, learning kit materials from the Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education, and 250 boxes of hygiene kits from the Office of Civil Defense were delivered.
The relief efforts aim to support over 1,000 families affected by the disaster. "We are united, the military, the BARMM government, and the local government unit of Bongao, to cushion the impact of the disaster on more than 1,000 families who lost their homes and properties," Jajurie emphasized in her statement on Tuesday.
