Possessions This Moro grandmother and her relatives prepare to leave the evacuation center. (davaotoday.com photo by Boy Bagwis)
Zaynab Ampatuan, national chairperson of the Moro party-list group Suara, lamented that “if the local
government has become so helpless in ending the wars in Mindanao, we are, at the least, hoping that they do not, at this point, prolong the agony of the displaced families by coming short in releasing such fund.”
A resident of neighboring Kabacan and a former evacuee herself, Ampatuan said that since government troops have been so persistent in using firearms to drive away civilians from the community, “now would be the best time for our local government to act immediately” to help the villagers.
Some of the residents have threatened local officials with murkah (divine wrath) for their failure to help the evacuees. “The wrath of Allah will surely fall on them for condoning our miseries in the evacuation sites,” Bai Masla, an evacuee, told The Philippine Star.
North Cotabato governor Emmanuel Piol earlier hinted that politics had something to do with the delay of the delivery of relief assistance for more than 7,000 evacuees. He said board members identified with a gubernatorial candidate were delaying the assistance, which he said might not be delivered until June.
In his radio program, Piol said the board members were afraid that the relief assistance might be used by the administration candidates to campaign.
The military has denied that its soldiers misbehaved in the Midsayap operations. It instead blamed the MILF for allegedly recruiting minors and children. Lt. Col. Julieto Ando even said that the military would file charges against the MILF before the Commission on Human Rights.
Ando said the alleged recruitment of minors and children is a blatant defiance and violation of the international law on the protection of childrens welfare and rights. He said they have proof to back up this allegation. (CJ Kuizon/davaotoday.com)
