Humanitarian crisis looms in Basilan island

BASILAN, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 3, 2008) – A humanitarian crisis is looming in the southern Philippine island of Basilan, where security forces are battling Moro rebels and Abu Sayyaf militants.

Thousands of civilians had been affected by military operations and sporadic clashes between rebels and soldiers, according to Basilan deputy governor Al Rasheed Sakalahul, acting head of the provincial crisis management committee.

“We have so many people who are now affected by the hostilities in Basilan. We need food aid to feed the hungry, those displaced by the fighting,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.

He said many of those affected by the skirmishes are from the towns of Maluso, Tipo-Tipo, Al-Barka and Ungkaya Pukan, although there were also reports of refugees in Tuburan town.

Basilan governor Jum Akbar could not be reached to comment about the worsening situation on the island, south of Zamboanga City. Local officials said Akbar was often out of Basilan and spends most of her time either in Zamboanga City or Manila.

Government troops launched operations last week to flush out Abu Sayyaf militants, blamed for the spate of kidnappings-for-ransom in Basilan.

Nine people had been kidnapped in Basilan since early this week by either the Abu Sayyaf or rebels from the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Gunmen are still holding two other hostages - Joed Pilangga, a nursing student kidnapped Oct. 17 in Zamboanga City, and Nicole Raveche, seized Nov. 26 in Lamitan City.

Abu Sayyaf kidnappers, headed by Puruji Indama and Nur Hassan Jamiri, have demanded P20 million ransoms from Pilangga’ family and P6 million for Raveche’s freedom.

Two government militias were also injured in MILF attack on a military post near Ungkaya Pukan town. And Sakalahul said rebels also seized at least five automatic weapons from another group of militias in a recent attack in Maluso town.

Marine Col. Rustico Guererro said MILF rebels were attacking soldiers pursuing the Abu Sayyaf, sparking sporadic clashes on the island. He accused the MILF of violating a fragile truce it signed with the military in 2001 after President Gloria Arroyo opened up peace talks with the rebels.

Guererro accused the MILF of sheltering Abu Sayyaf militants. “They have been coddling the Abu Sayyaf,” he said, an accusation the MILF strongly denied.

“They are just using the Abu Sayyaf as an escape goat to justify attacks on the MILF forces in Basilan,” said Eid Kabalu, a senior MILF leader.

More than a dozen people had been kidnapped the past four months by Abu Sayyaf militants in Basilan, including two Filipino aid workers, and most of them had been freed in exchange for huge ransoms. Locals blamed the police and military authorities in Basilan, one of six provinces under the Muslim autonomous region, for its failure to secure the safety of the civilians. (Mindanao Examiner)