Bentahan ng food ration, talamak sa ARMM

MAGUINDANAO (Mindanao Examiner / June 4, 2009) – Talamak diumano ang bentahan ng mga food rations sa ibat-ibang refugee shelters sa Maguindanao, isa sa limang lalawigan ng magulong Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Napipilitan umanong ibenta ng mga refugees ang kanilang mga bigas, noodles at mga de-lata upang makabili ng mas disenteng pagkain tulad ng isda at gatas sa mga bata. Sawa-sawang na umano ang mga ito sa paulit-ulit na kinakain sa loob ng maraming buwan na panantili sa mga shelters.

Karamihan sa mga food aid ay galing sa International Committee of the Red Cross at World Food Program. Sinasamantala naman ng mga negosyante ang sitwasyon ng mga refugee at binibili ng mga ito ang mga supplies sa murang halaga at saka naman ibibenta sa ibang lugar na halos ka-presyo na ng mabibili sa supermarket.

Malakas rin ang ugong na may mga grupong nagbebenta ng mga food aid at ni hindi na umano ito nakakarating sa mga refugees. Ilang ulit rin na nabalitang nahaharang ng mga armado ang mga truck ng bigas mula sa ICRC at WFP at nabebenta rin at ang iba naman ay napupunta sa mga rebeldeng Moro sa lalawigan.

May mga kaso rin ng mga refugee na nagbabayad ng kanilang food ration o kaya ay ginagamit itong kolateral sa mga bayaran sa pagamutan sa tuwing magkakasakit ang kanilang mga anak.

Naunang sinabi ng Moro Islamic Liberation Front na mahigit sa 600,000 katao ang apektado ng opensiba ng militar sa Mindanao at karamihan sa mga ito ay nasa mga refugee shelters sa Maguindanao at ibang bahagi ng ARMM.

Sinisi naman ni MILF leader Eid Kabalu ang pamunuan ng ARMM dahil sa lumalalang sitwasyon ng kahirapan sa Maguindanao at sa patuloy na kaguluhan doon.

“Ni hindi nga makausap o makita ng mga tao si ARMM Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan. Ni hindi nga nagpupunta sa mga refugee shelters si Ampatuan at madalas eh nasa Maynila o kaya ay nasa abroad. Ganoon rin yun kapatid na gobernador ng Maguindanao, si Andal Jr. at hindi rin makausap ng mga kawawang mga refugees,” ani Kabalu.

Ayon naman sa mga press statement ng ARMM ay hindi nagkukulang ng atensyon ang mga refugees at nabibigyan naman ng tulong mula kay Ampatuan. (May dagdag na ulat si Ferdinandh Cabrera)

Lack of food, medicines hound Mindanao refugees

Evacuees in Mindanao. (Mindanao Examiner Photo / Mark Navales)

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / May 26, 2009) - Imagine if you used to eating canned sardines the whole week, perhaps the entire month without feeling satiated or if you have nothing else for dinner, but rice and salt. And imagine a food ration card used as collateral to pay for hospital bills.

This is now the dilemma of refugees now housed in temporary shelters in Datu Piang town in Maguindanao, one of five provinces under the Muslim autonomous region and they are left with no choice, but depend on food rations by the World Food Program and International Committee of the Red Cross.

Worse, many have resorted to selling their food rations. They sold everything - cooking oil, sardines, noodles and even coffee for half of its original price - to buy a descent food for the family and children.

“Every day and every meal are the same – sardines, noodles, etc. That’s the reason why we sell our ration so we can buy fresh eggs or fish at the market for the children. What are we going to do with cooking oil if we can’t even buy an egg or fish,” one refugee told the Mindanao Examiner.
The situation in refugee shelters is getting worse, they said. “With no support from local governments or no medicines for the children, how can we survive here and we cannot go back to our village because of the fighting between rebels and soldiers,” another refugee said.

Many traders, some from as far as Sultan Kudarat province, have taken advantage of the situation, buying food rations distributed to refugees at bargain prices. And these rations find its way to small stores; their labels peeled off or painted to hide markings that they are not for sale and they sell at grocery prices.

One refugee rushed their malnourished child to hospital and was forced to use their food ration card as collateral for the medical bills. Tens of thousands of refugees are still in different evacuation shelters in Datu Piang.

The MILF said some 600,000 people were displaced by the war in Mindanao. (Ferdinandh Cabrera)

NGOs, Groups Deliver Aid To Mindanao

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / September 11, 2008) - Responding to the humanitarian crisis brought about by armed conflict in Mindanao, the non-government organization Asia America Initiative and other stakeholders delivered medical and other humanitarian supplies worth over P22 million to Christian and Muslim refugees in the trtoubled region.

AAI President Albert Santoli and his Philippine director Rohaniza Sumndad led the mission to Mindanao and at the same time emphasized solidarity and peace-building among Muslim and Christian communities in the areas.

Sumndad, whose family hails from Marawi City in Lanao province, is also organizing peace advocacy among people representing all Filipino cultures.

In the support for the AAI mission, student organizations and various businesses, private organizations local governments have contributed supplies, logistic and manpower to assist the refugees.

“In our interaction with the victims of violence in Iligan City, Lanao del Sur and North Cotabato we learned that this is not a battle between neighbors of different religions, who in some cases, are living together in temporary outdoor shelters and share what little necessities of life are available. They strongly expressed that living in inter-cultural communities, they do not want a religious war,” Sumndad said.

The AAI team said the impacted communities had no basic shelter, medical care and food supplies and not even sanitation or clean water which has now become a desperate priority. Refugees are camped at public schools and multi-purpose centers used as temporary shelters many in muddy rice fields and abandoned lands.

“In every group of refugees we encountered they had little more than clothes on their backs and with the largest population being infants and small children. In some cases, we had to purchase forks and spoons because they do not even have basic tools for survival. They fear going back to their homes because of the growing threat of on-going armed conflict and terror attacks,” Santoli said.

Sumndad said: “Officials and doctors in every refugee centers requested trauma counseling and the need for healing children who were exposed to extreme violence even the murder of family members. Social workers in the camps recommended that healing activities could take the form of simple children’s games. AAI donated stuffed animals and infant toys to help comfort the children in the camps.”

In Lanao del Sur, AAI also inaugurated “Gardens of Peace” (vegetable and flower gardening) project for public schools in partnership with the World Food Programme (WFP), the Department of Education and the Provincial Government.

Medical supplies were donated by private companies such as Unilever and MedPharm, and charitable institutions like Franciscan Sisters of the Poor, from student groups at the University of the Philippines and Ateneo de Manila University.

Packing and mobilizing in Iligan City was conducted by volunteer students from St. Michael College, Mindanao State University – College of Medicine and an Ayala Young Leader Chapter called AYLA-MILAN. Transportation was provided by NorthWest Airlines and the Philippine Air Lines Foundation.