RIYADH, 19 September 2006 — When Bashier Manalao started going to the villages of Lanao del Sur province in the southern Philippines in his capacity as governor, people wondered what he was up to.
The reaction was no surprise. People were used to seeing politicians who show up in poor or far-flung communities only during election time.
But Manalao was unfazed. He was determined to prove that for a leader to extend effective services to his constituents, he must get out of his proverbial ivory tower and meet with the people wherever they are.
“My approach is different from previous administrations. I personally go and meet my people in their homes... Some previous officials were used to staying at their offices only and meet with selective guests. As such they were unaware of the sufferings of their people,” he told Arab News in an interview.
A graduate of the prestigious King Saud University (KSU) in Riyadh, Manalao is an unassuming man who had little or no political ambitions.
He was born in the village of Lalabuan in Lanao del Sur’s town of Tamparan. He studied Islamic education and finished high school at Ma’ahad Mindanao Al-Arabi simultaneously. Having found interest in Islamic education, he decided to pursue further studies at KSU.
During a reception for the Saudi ambassador to Manila, Muhammad Amin Wali, recently in Marawi City, Manalao recalled that it was during his 10-year stay in Riyadh where he developed plans for missionary work suited for his province.
And in an interview with Arab News at his residence in Mindanao State University in Marawi, he said that it was during his stay in Riyadh when he planned to organize the “Al-Mustaqbal,” which he said is now the biggest group of Muslim women in the Philippines.
Equipped with a college education, he returned home and began missionary work. He started organizing a self-support training center, which initially had 100 male Muslim minors from various towns in the province who were given both preliminary Arabic and English education as well as religious instructions.
Interestingly, he placed “an emphasis on the significant role of the Muslim women and the essence of moral values in shaping a God-fearing family as well as a prosperous community.”
By a quirk of fate, he was asked to be the running mate of an established politician during the 2004 election and he won as vice governor by a landslide. Barely two months had passed when the elected governor died and he was propelled to the top post on July 4, 2004, becoming the 13th governor of Lanao del Sur.
In just a year, he was able to bring the local government much closer to the people with such programs as medical mission and food assistance, moral recovery, intensification of the peace campaign, reactivation of irrigation systems, agricultural farming and fishing, infrastructure and many others.
Manalao claimed he is the only Muslim governor in the Philippines to build a “Maqbara” Public Cemetery, which has long been needed by the people of the province.
On irrigation, Manalao said that seven irrigation systems have been rehabilitated, benefiting 7,990 farmers, while another 14 irrigation System have been given the necessary support to increase efficiency levels, benefiting another 2,348 farmers. On health and social services, Manalao said approximately 13,277 patients benefited from the combined medical and dental outreach missions to 18 municipalities and four locations within Marawi.
On peace, order and unity he said that through the provincial council of elders, the advisory committee and leadership of the provincial security force had successfully facilitated the peaceful and nonviolent resolution and or settlement of a total of 75 family feuds.
