DA: Ex-MILF camps may be transformed into agri sites

THE Department of Agriculture (DA) eyes the conversion of former Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) r camps in Mindanao into productive agriculture areas.

Agriculture Undersecretary Zam Ampatuan said the transformation plans have been drawn up and were discussed in an interagency meeting at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City on Dec. 14, 2022.

Government peace panel chairman Cesar Yano and Usec Ampatuan, a panel member, attended the meeting.

Ampatuan said the meeting explored the potentials of abaca production in the areas around MILF camps.

Also present at the meeting were Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM)

Minister Akmad Brahim of the Ministry of the Environment, Natural Resources and Energy (MENRE) and representatives of the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources, the National Housing Authority, the Land Registration Authority, the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority, the National Commission on Indigenous Pilipinos, the BARMM Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Agrarian Reform (MAFAR), and the Joint Task Force on Camp Transformation (TFCT-GPH) co-chaired by Bangsamoro Member of Parliament Engineer Baintan Adil Ampatuan and Executive Director Cesar De Mesa of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Reconciliation and Unity.

The meeting assessed the status of land classification and related issues pertinent to the camp transformation program for the 33 barangays in six MILF camps, particularly on abaca production and other agricultural ventures in said areas.