Monday, September 08, 2008 Mindanao gets aid By Froilan Gallardo
AID workers have finally arrived Saturday in the town of Tangkal, Lanao del Norte, which remained isolated a month after hostilities between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the military erupted.
But the workers were appalled by the living conditions of more than 18,000 residents and evacuees who have resorted to eating root crops to survive one month of isolation.
"Tangkal is now a one big evacuation center," said Abel Moya, Programme Manager for Pakigdait, an NGO helping in the relief effort.
Moya said a truck carrying 1,000 relief packages consisting of four kilos rice, one kilo brown sugar, coffee, 1/2 kilo mongo, iodised salt, bath soap, and detergent per package was allowed to enter Tangkal by the military.
He said soldiers escorted the truck to the four evacuation centers in Tangkal where most of the residents have sought refuge.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines earlier restricted aid workers from bringing relief goods to Tangkal fearing that MILF rebels under Abdul Rahman Macapaar alias Commander Bravor will kidnap them to pressure the military to stop the ongoing offensive.
"The sheer spirit of the residents and evacuees to stay in their town surprised us. They survived by eating root crops," Moya said in a statement emailed to Sunstar Cagayan de Oro.
Moya said they saw Army soldiers have taken over the municipal hall of Tangkal and have converted it into a small military camp.
"Soldiers are everywhere. They are to blame for regulating the flow of humanitarian aid to Tangkal," he said.
Humanitarian crisis
The National Disaster Coordinating Council said Sunday the month-long fighting has displaced 501,889 persons in 343 villages in 66 towns and six cities in 11 provinces in Mindanao.
It said the figure of internally displaced persons (IDP) are swelling with new rounds of evacuations in Pigkawayan town, North Cotabato and Lake Sebu town, South Cotabato.
The NDCC said the death toll remained at 70, including 58 civilians, seven law enforcement operatives and two MILF fighters. The NDCC report also listed at least 78 injured, 65 of them civilians.
Dominik Stillhart, International Red Cross deputy director of operations, said he saw the "deteriorating situation" of those displaced when he visited evacuation sites in North Cotabato, one of the provinces affected by the fighting.
"We could see in their eyes (that) these people have been displaced many times over," Stillhart said. "Many have already returned home but many are also reluctant."
