Embassy of Japan: Message at the handover of the water system in Barangay Nanga-an, a BARMM Special Geographic Area under the ILO-Japan Water and Sanitation Project

By Ambassador Koshikawa Kazuhiko of the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines at the handover of the water system in Barangay Nanga-an, a BARMM Special Geographic Area under the ILO-Japan Water and Sanitation Project, 10 March 2022, Barangay Nanga-an, Kabacan, North Cotabato, Philippines

Meeting document | Barangay Nanga-an, Kabacan, North Cotabato, Philippines | 10 March 2022
Honourable Minister Romeo K. Sema(オナラブル ミニスター ロメオ・ケイ・セマ)
Chair, Project Advisory and Review Committee of the ILO-Japan Water Project, and Minister, Ministry of Labor and Employment, BARMM

Honourable Country Director Khalid Hassan(オラナブル カントリーダイレクター カリード・ハサン)
International Labour Organization

Honourable Mayor Herlo P. Guzman, Jr.(オラナブル メイヤー ヘルロ・ グスマン・ジュニアー)
Kabacan, Cotabato

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
(マガンダング ウマガ ポー)Magandang umaga po (Good morning)

I am delighted to be part of this ceremony today. This is the second time this week that we turned over a completed water system, out of the 11 sub-projects under the ILO-Japan Water and Sanitation Project. With this initiative specifically intended for BARMM, I hope the people of Barangay Nanga-an could feel how important they are to us.

Enabling them to build better lives for themselves—this is the rationale underlying Japan’s partnership with the ILO. We believe that the peace and prosperity of the community largely depends on how each of its members is educated, healthy, and free from fear. When their basic needs are met, they also get better chances at realizing a better state.

Food, water, shelter, and livelihood are among the prerequisites to attaining such personal security. By ensuring better access to these basic necessities, we empower the people to realize their own potentials, and eventually, to contribute to the development of their own society. This is the principle of Human Security that Japan is strongly advocating for.

Through the completed water system we are handing over today, I hope we also built a strong support system to help make this community a better place to live in. A total of 1,047 households and a school with 292 students in Barangay Nanga-an will now have clean and safe water within reach. I see this water system ushering in more development to this barangay, and I look forward to seeing the locals, especially the students, with a renewed sense of hope in achieving their full potentials.

Apart from the water system constructed, I believe a stronger community was also made in Kabacan, North Cotabato. The efforts of the people in this project, including the 57 hired local workers, have hopefully brought their community closer than ever. What better way to bring a project to successful completion than working with stakeholders and involving the people themselves.

The Government of Japan is indeed grateful to our partners for making this project a success—especially the ILO, BARMM and the local people. For our part, rest assured that Japan will remain as a steady stream of support to the development and peace endeavours of the Bangsamoro people.

Maraming salamat po (Thank you very much!)