VILLAR TIES-UP WITH A KILLER

Evacuees in Southern Philippines are still gripped with hesitation to go back to their respective houses even though they were told by local government officials that peace and order in the restive region have been gradually improving.

Noraima Limpongan, 24, a resident of Brgy. Alonganen, a riverside barangay of Datu Piang, Maguindanao said she could have lost her child had she insisted to stay at their home during the attack of the renegade Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) group last year. “I was due for my eldest son that time when armed MILF occupied the riverside barangays of Datu Piang last year. My parents told me to leave the area before it’s too late. I would have not celebrated my birthday last week and I would have not given my son a life he deserves had I opted to stay at our house”, says Noraima who gave birth at the evacuation center in Datu Piang.

According to the latest report of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) or evacuees as a result of the military offensive between the government and moro rebels is put at 250,000 individuals or 61,452 families. Of this figure, almost 149,000 individuals (37,400 families) are inside the evacuation centers of Datu Odin Sinsuat, Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Datu Piang, Guindulungan, Talitay, and Talayan all of Maguindanao while almost 97,000 individuals (24,052 families) are house-based or outside the evacuation centers (stay at their relatives in nearby areas). To date, to most of these displaced villagers who stay in various evacuation sites, returning home is still a luxury.

In fact, Norhata Sawal, a pregnant woman who stayed in a roadside tent for make-shift shelter near Datu Piang town proper, said over the month, she went back home every five days as long as the fighting receded a bit. But she only dared to stay in the house for no more than five minutes. "Houses were burnt and occupied, MILF forces were around. I am so frightened and really don't know when I can return." Sawal, who is five months into pregnancy, said she was not even sure whether she could have the baby born in her home.

Hardest hit by the fighting and mass exodus of people is the town of Datu Piang (formerly Dulawan). With this figure, practically one-third of the people of this province are displaced and in evacuation centers. Reports further said that the condition of the IDPs is steadily worsening due to lack of food and medicines, lack of good supply of water, poor hygiene, and the coming of the rainy season.

With this, pool of local executives in Maguindanao province lambasted the continuous threats posed by members of the MILF against their constituents saying that such was indeed a devious act and “un-Islamic”. Meanwhile, various local and international aid groups appealed to the MILF to once and for all put to stop looming atrocious activities so that displaced people could return to their respective houses and do their usual routines.

The government and various humanitarian organizations have already extended billions of pesos to assist the IDPs in Southern Philippines. Accordingly, the European Union through the government has been providing humanitarian support to IDPs in ARMM since 2008. They have already extended some 7.7 billion pesos to include also aids and assistance provided by the World Food Programme (WFP), International Committee on the Red Cross (ICRC), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Save the Children, International Organization for Migration and the United Nation’s Act for Peace Program under the Strengthening Response to internal Displacement in Mindanao (STRIDE-Mindanao) Project.