WBA inaugurates radio station

Signing of the deed of donation between donor Institute for Autonomy and Governance (IAG) headed by it's Executive Director Atty Benny Bacani and the donee Maluso local government headed by Mayor Hanie Bud.

Taberlongan, Maluso, Basilan (October 14, 2019) - The Western Basilan Alliance (WBA) composed of the municipalities of Hadji Mutamad, Lantawan, Maluso, Sumisip and Tabuan Lasa and the provincial government of Basilan inaugurate today their alliance radio station at the new Municipal Government Center, Taberlongan, Maluso, Basilan Province.

The radio facility is a component of the Modeling Inter-LGU Alliance in Basilan (MILAB) Project funded by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) and implemented by the Institute for Autonomy and Governance (AIG); while building was constructed out of the development funds allocated by the provincial government of Basilan and the municipal government of Maluso. The WBA 99.1Mhz FM station has a maximum capacity of 2,000 watts, and will broadcast from 8 o'clock in the morning to 5 o'clock in the afternoon, Monday to Friday.

HE Jorge Moragas, Ambassador of Spain to the Philippines reiterates the common heritage and political partnership between Spain and the Philippines and how this translates into meaningful support in Basilan and BARMM that are coming out conflict, like the idea of inter-LGU alliance in pursuit of shared goals.

WBA's lead champion honorable Hadjiman 'Jim' Hataman-Salliman, the provincial governor of Basilan, expressed his idea of forming this development alliance because he believes it is the right time to move away from tge traditional view that development is only about infrastructure. He strongly believes that leaders and their constituencies should view development holistically, and the establishment of this radio station will support social communication and community engagement among the peoples and local governments of the WBA.

Maluso Mayor Hanie A. Bud, on hosting the radio station in his municipality, believes that the radio is still an effective medium of engaging peoples in this part of the world, a test for Maluso in developing sustainable management capacity and reaching out to more people involved and aware of the different projects and activities undertaken by the local governments.

The Sanggunian Bayan (SB) of Maluso also expressed their appreciation about the project through a resolution to the Spanish Ambassador and the Provincial Governor.

PBS visits Maluso for WBA radio inspection

Local officials posing for posterity with the visiting PBS team.

Maluso, Basilan - A team from the Philippine Broadcasting Service (PBS) visits this town today to inspect the local radio facility established under the AECID-funded Modeling Inter-LGU Alliance in Basilan (MILAB) Project for the Western Basilan Alliance (WBA) and turned over by the Institute for Autonomy and Governance (IAG).

PBS Director General Giovanni Aportadera Jr headed the visiting team and includes its accreditation committee. The purpose of the visit was to sign the memorandum of agreement (MoA) for the accreditation of the local WBA 99.1 FM radio station. PBS is facilitating the radio station registration with the National Telecommunication Commission (NTC).

Mayor Hans Bud of Maluso impressed on the visiting PBS team the improved security situation in the province through the leadership of PGov Jim Hataman and the cooperation of local officials. He also shared with the team the infrastructure support the locality received from the defunct ARMM and how this jumpstarted great improvement in the road network and local governance.

Also present in receiving the PBS team was the local legislature headed by very supportive Vice Mayor Al Yasin and his energetic Sangguniang Bayan (SB) councillors.

The WBA and PBS are currently cooperating in the on-going WBA Training on Basic Radio Broadcasting on October 28-31, 2019, Marcian Garden Hotel, Zamboanga City. This activity is also supported by the AECID-funded MILAB Project and managed IAG.

WBA conducts basic radio broadcasting

Radyo Pilipinas 738khz manager Allan Allanigue
serving as resource person of the training.

Zamboanga City - The Western Basilan Alliance (WBA) in partnership with the Philippines Broadcasting Service (PBS) commences today  a 4-day Training on Basic Radio Broadcasting on October 28 to 31, 2019, at the Marcian Garden Hotel, this city.

Participants are selected employees of provincial government of Basilan and the munipalities of Hadji Muhtamad, Lantawan, Maluso, Sumisip, and Tabuan Lasa. There are  also participants from the public education and local police sector and civil society organizations.

In his welcome address, Zia Ulhaq Basa, the designated station manager, says this training comes after the WBA inaugurated its WBA 99 1 FM radio station and a deed of donation was executed by the donor Institute for Autonomy and Governance (IAG) and donee Maluso local government on behalf of the alliance.

Engr Rodentor O. Domingo, Engineer IV and chairperson of the accreditation committee of the Philippine Broadcasting Service (PBS) says  that capacity-building program like this one helps build lay a good foundation for the sound management and sustainable operation of the radio station.

The manager of Radyo Pilipinas 738 khz Allan Alanigue is serving as the resource person. He has more than twenty years experience in radio broadcasting. He currently co-anchor the program " Radyo Pilipinas Nationwide" and served as acting chief of production division of the Philippine Broadcasting Service (PBS).

The radio station and this training is supported by the AECID-funded Modeling Inter-LGU Alliance in Basilan (MILAB) Project as managed by the Institute for Autonomy and Governance (IAG). AECID is the Spanish aid agency for international cooperation and development.

By John Unson

BASILAN --- Stakeholders will launch Monday a “peace radio” in the former shabu capital of Basilan province whose municipal government got two Seal of Good Local Governance citations in the past two years.

Besides having a new radio station, the municipality of Maluso, where the Abu Sayyaf once had camps, also boasts of a branch of the Land Bank of the Philippines in its town center established just a year ago.

The new FM station, to focus on peace-building programs to foster religious and cultural solidarity among Muslim and Christian communities, is a common project of the Institute for Autonomy and Governance, or IAG, the Zamboanga Integrated Development Alliance and the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and Development.

The setting up of the broadcast facility is part of the Modeling Inter-Local Government Alliance in Western Basilan Project of the three entities and the office of the now second termer Gov. Jim Salliman.

The IAG, a partner of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung of Germany, has been helping capacitate via governance interventions and continuing educational forums for two decades now the local government units in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao that got replaced early this year with a Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Maluso Mayor Hanie Bud told reporters Sunday he is thankful to the organizations that provided them with a radio station that they can use as platform for propagation of peace in the context of religious tolerance and cross-section cooperation in furthering domestic development initiatives.

The LGU of Maluso received the Seal of Good Local Governance in 2017 and, subsequently, in 2018, from the office of Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año for efficient fiscal management and its continuing peace and security programs intended to restore normalcy in all of its component-barangays.

The LGU is again a candidate for the 2019 SGLG citation from the central office of the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

“We shall be forever grateful to the IAG and its local and foreign partners, to the provincial government of Basilan and to the office of our congressional representative,” said Bud, who got to the helm of the Maluso LGU, as a first-termer mayor, only in 2016.

Maluso then was notorious for unsettled vendetta feuds involving heavily-armed families besides its being the major transshipment point for shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) in Basilan province that covers two cities, Isabela and Lamitan, and 10 other towns.

The municipality, home to mixed Muslim and Christian residents, now has white sand beach resorts in seaside barangays where there was Abu Sayyaf presence in the past.

In a statement Sunday, the IAG said its development initiatives in Basilan are being supported extensively by Deputy Speaker Mujiv Hataman, the lone congressional representative in the island province.

The IAG said representatives from peace advocacy groups helping carry out their capacity-building programs for LGUs in Basilan are expected to grace the symbolic launching of the radio station in Maluso.

Source: http://www.ndbcnews.com.ph/news/once-troubled-basilan-town-now-has-radio-station