COTABATO CITY --- The Mindanao State University-Maguindanao and the Al-Amanah Islamic Investment Bank of the Philippines on Monday, October 5, expanded each other's cooperation in linking education, Islamic finance and socio-economic thrusts to boost peace and development in Central Mindanao.
Monday's engagement of the MSU-Maguindanao and the Al-Amanah Bank was capped off with the unveiling by officials of both entities of the infrastructure improvements, costing P242 million, in the university's campus in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte.
For local executives in Central Mindanao, the Memorandum of Understanding, or MOU, crafted by both sides at the MSU-Maguindanao campus last Monday is significant owing to its having linked tighter the two institutions with very different roles, but are together in boosting the operation of the university, to produce the region’s future professionals and widen access to Islamic finance and banking services to foster peace via sustainable development in towns and cities around.
The MSU-Maguindanao and Al-Amanah Bank cooperation deal is a partnership for academic development, research, capacity-building, public-service empowerment, financial inclusion and Islamic finance.
The written partnership agreement was signed by MSU-Maguindanao Chancellor Bai Hejira Nefertiti Limbona and Al-Amanah Bank Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer Amenah Pangandaman, the former Department of Budget and Management secretary. MSU-Maguindanao Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Marissa Parcon and the lawyer Norhaya Ali Lago, of the university’s Office of the Legal Counsel, also affixed their signatures to the MOU.
The deal was forged at a time when access to education, financing and employment remains central to the economic future of communities across the Bangsamoro region. The MSU-Maguindanao is based in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte, about 40 kilometers from Cotabato City, the regional capital of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. The university’s location provides the partnership a potentially important regional reach.
The MOU provides a framework for activities involving research, skills development, public service and financial inclusion, which can positively enhance the participation of students and stakeholders to various activities aiming to boost the region's economy. The value of Islamic finance is particularly important in a region where Islamic banking is relevant to capital intensive businesses and small and medium enterprises, some of which are seeking financial services consistent with Islamic principles.
BARMM officials, among them parliament members Ishak Mastura and Naguib Sinarimbo, both lawyers, separately said on Tuesday, October 6, that, for them, the MSU-Maguindanao and Al-Amanah Bank's partnership agreement is like a complex cooperation package on sustaining the the university's being a facet for quality education for Central Mindanao's Muslim, Christian and indigenous non-Moro communities.
Pangandaman, who was guest of honor during MSU-Maguindanao’s 53rd founding anniversary last Monday, was recognized by university officials for her role in helping secure infrastructure support for the university during her time as secretary of the DBM. She helped the MSU-Maguindanao improve the infrastructures in its campus while she was at the helm of the DBM.
Among the projects in the MSU-Maguindanao campus inaugurated on Monday were four major buildings with a combined value of P242 million, namely the Forestry and Environment Science Building, P66 million, College of Fisheries Building, P66 million, College of Public Affairs and Governance Building, P66 million and the P44 million worth Institute of Management and Academic Building. Pangandaman was also instrumental in the establishment of a campus infirmary via the Department of Health’s Health Facilities Enhancement Program.
MSU-Maguindanao officials said the infrastructure improvements in their campus are more than just cement bricks and other construction materials for a university in a region where residents have long been wishing for lasting peace and progress. They also emphasized that better facilities mean more capacity to train students in fisheries, environmental science, governance, management and other fields essential to the operation of government and private entities in the autonomous region.
School officials said the MOU of the MSU-Maguindanao and the Al-Amanah also aims to educate students on the benefits of Islamic banking ideals.
MSU-Maguindanao students, many of them from marginalized Moro families, had told reporters that they are certain that the MSU-Maguindanao and Al-Amanah Bank's MOU will provide them exposure to financial services, research opportunities and skills that can be applied in local government operations and multi-sector programs on community economic development.
The MOU signing on Monday was one of the highlights of MSU-Maguindanao’s 53rd founding anniversary, themed “From Roots to Reach: 53 Years of MSU-Maguindanao.”
The partnership of the MSU-Maguindanao and the Al-Amanah Bank is widely construed by teachers and local executives as something so good for a region struggling to fully rise, bounce back from the armed secessionist conflicts in decades past.