At least 100 low-income families in Maguindanao del Norte province will soon have houses they can call their own through the Bangsamoro regional government.

This came after the Ministry of Human Settlements and Development (MHSD) of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) signed Tuesday a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with local chief executives of Matanog and Parang towns for the housing projects.

Hamid Aminoddin Barra, MHSD minister, said the agency has initiated a series of back-to-back MOA signings with LGUs since last week that included Lantawan town in Basilan province and Marawi City.

Another MOA will also be signed with the Kapatagan LGU in Lanao del Sur for the housing project soon, Barra added.

“We are proving that we can handle and do our job, which fuels us in the MHSD to do our work for the BARMM,” he said.

Of the 1,800 housing units expected for implementation by the MHSD this year, he said 900 will rise within the BARMM– 600 for the transformation of acknowledged Moro Islamic Liberation Front camps to communities while 300 outside the region where Bangsamoro people also reside.

In Matanog, the housing development project in Barangay Bayanga will have a concrete arch entranceway, 50 housing units, and a solar-powered water system level III, funded under the Special Development Fund 2022.

Fifty other housing units will be built in Barangay Nituan, Parang, each having a 48-square meter area with three bedrooms, an outdoor kitchen area, a living-dining area, and a bathroom, funded under the General Appropriations Act of the Bangsamoro 2024.

In Matanog, the construction of 50 housing units worth PHP43.7 million has started; while the 50-unit resettlement housing project worth PHP38.8 million in Barangay Nituan of Parang town will begin next month.

Since 2020, the MHSD has implemented 643 housing units across the region. An additional 550 units have begun implementation this year, 150 of which are in Maguindanao. (PNA)