P160-M grant to displaced Mindanao folk

By Michaela P. del Callar

12/22/2008

As government forces yesterday continued to battle Muslim separatists in heavy fighting that erupted last Saturday, the European Union (EU) announced it had approved a $3.4 million (or 2.5 million euros equivalent to P160 million) in fresh grants intended for the thousands of civilians displaced by secessionist conflict in Mindanao.

The amount is on top of the 7-million-euro (P448-million) assistance the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, announced for the victims of the conflict in October, the European said in a statement.

The earlier grant of 7 million euros covered short-term humanitarian assistance worth 4 million euros and long-term rehabilitation assistance amounting to 3 million euros.

Meanwhile, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) reported that fierce, heavy fighting between secessionist rebels and government troops had erupted last Saturday in Upper Tubod in Lanao del Norte and it was still ongoing at press time.

In a sketchy report, the MILF said the firefight ensued after government troops moved into MILF areas. It further alleged that government soldiers “started committing abuses against the civilians.”

Tubod town in Lanao del Norte was supposed to host the Mindanao

Friendship Games last month but the Games were canceled owing to “unstable” peace and order situation in the area.

On its fresh aid for victims of Mindanao conflict, the European Commission said it would “allow the EC’s humanitarian assistance with food, shelter and sanitation for the internally-displaced persons to be extended for a further few months.”

Ambassador Alistair MacDonald, Head of Delegation of the European Commission to the Philippines, said the EC decided on extending additional assistance to the displaced persons after a visit EU Ambassadors made in Mindanao last week.

“When we visited the evacuation centers in Datu Piang, Datu Saudi Ampatuan and Mamansapano, it was encouraging to see that the displaced families were no longer housed in school classrooms, and that local and national government, assisted by the international community, were working hard to ensure that proper care was being given to these innocent victims of the conflict,” MacDonald said in a statement.

About 310,000 civilians were rendered homeless by the raging conflict between government troops and secessionist MILF. Of this figure, 60,000 had taken shelter in evacuation centers.

“The situation remains very serious,” the envoy said. “Evacuation centers are by no means adequate for anything more than short-term relief. Many of the IDPs (internally-displaced persons) have been in these evacuation centers for five months now, with little prospect of being able to return to their homes while the risk of conflict remains,” he added.

After the agreement on expanded Muslim homeland was scrapped by the Supreme Court and the government that month, rogue elements of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front attacked several most Christian towns and villages in Mindanao, killing scores of and displacing thousands of civilians.

The issue on ancestral domain pact was the last remaining hurdle for a final political settlement that was expected to end the four decades-old Muslim insurgency that has already claimed more than 120,000 lives since the secessionist was began.

Once signed, both sides are expected to work towards the signing of a final peace deal that would include plans for the future of the MILF’s 12,000 fighters.

The MILF, which used to be a part of a larger secessionist group that signed a peace deal with the government in 1996, had been battling for self-rule in Mindanao for several years.

Last September, the EU expressed concern about the escalation of violence in Mindanao , and about the growing number of civilian casualties and displaced persons. It particularly condemned the indiscriminate killing of civilians and called for those responsible to face the due process of law.

The EU statement underlined that the conflict in Mindanao could only be resolved through dialog as it called upon all parties to show restraint and genuine respect for the rule of law.

The EU also urged the government and the MILF to agree to an early return to negotiating table in order to seek a lasting solution to the conflict.

Back to top

For comments about this website:Webmaster@tribune.net.ph
The Daily Tribune © 2006