Sunday, August 31, 2008 Soldiers stop UN convoy carrying food for evacuees By Froilan Gallardo
KAUSWAGAN, Lanao del Norte -– A United Nations (UN) convoy carrying food packs for evacuees in Lanao del Norte was prevented by soldiers from entering two hinterland villages in this town Friday morning.
The convoy -- consisting of a truck, four UN pick-up vehicles and an ABS-CBN Cagayan de Oro van -- was bringing food packs for at least 400 families when was stopped by soldiers at a military checkpoint about a hundred meters from the national highway in Kauswagan.
Dr. Reuel Toledo of the UN’s Act for Peace program said the soldiers told them that they received orders from the Army 104th Brigade that food packages should not be allowed lest these could be used by Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels led by Abdul Rahman Macapaar alias Commander Bravo.
Toledo said the relief goods were intended for 318 families from neighboring villages who sought refuge in Barangay Delabayan, Kauswagan and 120 families from neighboring villages who sought refuge in the village.
He said they were concern on the safety and availability for these evacuees because they received reports that their movements are hampered by the ongoing military operations against the rebel.
"They have sent word to us that they need relief goods because their food supply was running out," Toledo told Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro.
Toledo said the Philippine Army is already violating the United Nations Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement if indeed there was an order to stop the entry of food convoys to evacuation centers.
Principle 3 of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement states that "National authorities have the primary duty and responsibility to provide protection and humanitarian assistance to internally displaced persons within their jurisdiction."
"IDPs (internally displaced persons) have the right to food, security and shelter," Toledo said.
The UN personnel negotiated with the soldiers for three hours but failed to secure their permission to allow the convoy to proceed to Barangay Delabayan.
The convoy left the area at 12:31 noon for Cagayan de Oro.
Diosita Andot, executive director of the Act for Peace and who was in the convoy, said Brigadier General Antonio Supnet, chief of the Army 104th Brigade, told them that the situation in the hinterlands of Lanao del Norte was volatile that they could not guarantee the security of the aid workers.
Andot said they decided to leave the relief goods with Kauswagan Vice Mayor Manangulo Mastura for distribution.
The peace advocates from Iligan City will accompany Mastura in distributing the goods to Delabayen, a Peace and Development Community of Act for Peace.
The UNDP Act for Peace program had already delivered relief assistance to 4,895 families in Central Mindanao, Sarangani and Lanao del Norte provinces.
The UN World Food Program said Thursday it was ramping up food assistance to the more than 220,000 people displaced by fighting in the Philippines.
The agency said it is delivering nearly 1,000 metric tons of rice to civilians caught in the conflict in south Minanao between government troops and the MILF.
"(The World Food Program) is responding to a request from the government to provide food assistance to meet urgent needs among the hundreds of thousands of people affected by the sudden upsurge in violence in southern Mindanao," said Stephen Anderson, the agency's Philippines country director.
Anderson said rice stocks were stored in a warehouse in Cotabato, near the affected area, and "we've acted quickly to move food out to where it is most needed."
The World Food Program, so far, has distributed about 650 metric tons of rice to 160,000 displaced families from Lanao del Sur, Lanao del Norte and North Cotabato. Another 250 metric tons of rice is being delivered to 60,000 people in the provinces of Maguindanao and Shariff Kabunsuan, Anderson said. (With Sunnex/AP)
