INTERFAITH MISSION. Nearly 700 volunteers from various parts of the country will participate in the three-day interfaith humanitarian mission that started on Wednesday, June 14. The mission will cover the areas of Marawi City, President Roxas in North Cotabato and Matanao in Davao del Sur. (Alex D. Lopez/davaotoday.com)
ILIGAN CITY, Philippines – Nearly a thousand volunteers from various parts of Mindanao and from Luzon will take part in a three-day interfaith humanitarian mission that will begin today, June 14.
The mission will simultaneously visit three areas in Mindanao – Marawi City in Lanao del Sur; President Roxas in North Cotabato and Matanao in Davao del Sur.
Around 700 volunteers will visit the various evacuation centers in the towns of Saguiran, Balo-i and in Iligan City.
In a briefing on Wednesday morning here, Bishop Melzar Labuntog of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines in Northern Mindanao said the interfaith gathering is aimed with a single purpose – and that is to reach out to the people of Marawi and other parts of Mindanao who fell victims to massive militarization especially in the countryside.
“In unity, we stand with the people of Marawi,” Labuntog added.
He also explained the objectives of the interfaith mission, saying that the activity will allow volunteers to actually see the situation of internally displaced persons in evacuation centers.
MISSION PURPOSE. Bishop Melzar Labuntog of UCCP in Northern Mindanao briefed the members of the interfaith humanitarian mission that will cover displaced families and individuals from Marawi who are now staying in evacuation centers in Iligan City and in towns in Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte. The briefing was facilitated at the Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology in Iligan City on Wednesday, June 14. (Alex D. Lopez/davaotoday.com)
More than 40,000 families or 200,000 individuals are now staying in evacuation centers and to their relatives, as the government staged airstrikes, bombardments and massive ground military offensives against the Maute Group and Abu Sayyaf in Marawi.
In President Roxas town, hundreds of Lumad and Moro residents in the village of Salat were also displaced and affected by the bombing staged by government forces.
Lumad families were also affected in the interior villages of Matanao in Davao del Sur due to militarization.
The mission will also help empower the displaced families and individuals and organize the survivors and victims of the continuing all-out war in Mindanao.
Labuntog said other members of the mission will be tasked to document and collate the human rights situation in Marawi and other parts of Mindanao.
Documentation of human rights violations will help survivors and the victims demand accountability and indemnification, he added.
The mission in Marawi will also become a venue for the call for the release of Fr. Chito Suganob and other civilian hostages in the city. (davaotoday.com)
