Japanese Minister Yasuhiro Nakayama of Japanese Embassy led the turnover ceremonies of two grassroots projects under the Japan-Bangsamoro Initiatives for Reconstruction and Development, or J-BIRD, which was launched last December 2006, as part of Japan's commitment to support peace and development efforts in Mindanao. Together with Minister Nakayama, International Monitoring Team Deputy Head of Mission First Admiral Dato' Pahlawan Amzah bin Sulaiman, GRP and MILF Coordinating Committees on Cessation of Hostilities, Bangsamoro Development Agency (BDA), ARMM Department of Education and local government officials on September 6, 2007 at Maguindanao. The initial batch of the 12 cooperation projects which J-BIRD launched last December, committing a total value of Six Hundred Twenty Five Thousand US Dollars (US$625,000) or about Twenty-nine Million Pesos (PHP 29,000,000), these two projects include the construction of classroom building in Talitay, Maguindanao which costs US$ 70,353 and deep wells in three barangays in Guindulungan Municipality, also in Maguindanao amounting to US$ 38,963. Funded through Japan's Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects or GGP, these projects are meant to directly benefit the people at the grassroots level to enable them to experience the "dividends of peace".

For more information details see at the PR#38-2007 of the Embassy of Japan website (www.ph.emb-japan.go.jp)