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Tuesday, August 12, 2008
130T flee homes in Central Mindanao
By Nelson C. Bagaforo and Ben O. Tesiorna
DAVAO CITY -- Government troops, backed by helicopter gunships, regained control of two southern villages from Muslim rebels Monday and pressed ahead with a massive assault to clear 13 others, officials said.
At least one army soldier and seven Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerrillas were killed since nearly 3,000 troops and police launched the attack Sunday.
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The assault, backed by artillery and rocket-firing helicopters, came after the guerrillas defied an ultimatum to withdraw from five towns in North Cotabato, military vice chief of staff Lieutenant General Cardozo Luna said.
About 130,000 villagers fled their homes as renewed clashes between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the MILF at the boundaries of North Cotabato and Maguindanao provinces continued.
The number of villagers, officials said, has continued to increase by thousands daily.
The fighting coincided with a crucial development in ongoing peace talks between the government and the MILF rebels, who have been waging a bloody insurgency for self-rule in the southern Philippines.
Senator Richard Gordon, also Philippine National Red Cross governor, estimated the number of evacuees to about 80,000 people coming from the barangays of North Cotabato and Maguindanao where fierce fighting started Sunday afternoon.
The Cotabato City-based non-governmental organization, Mindanao Emergency Response Network (Mern)-Central Mindanao reported Monday that at least 4,000 families have forced to leave their homes and farmlands due to armed conflict in Midsayap, Aleosan, and Pigcawayan towns in North Cotabato.
The group conducted ocular visits and data gathering in the areas affected Monday morning.
The number of evacuees in Pikit town, also in North Cotabato, has yet to be determined as the highway leading to the area was rendered impassable after MILF rebels set up roadblocks there.
Mern-Central Mindanao reported that massive evacuation is going on in affected barangays in Pikit.
As of Monday, the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office (MSWDO) in Midsayap, Aleosan, and Pigcawayan towns reported about 2,679 displaced families from barangays Baliki, Central Bualan, Lagumbingan, Patindeguin, Gayunga, Upper Labas, Central Labas, San Isidro, Bagumba, Nes, Rangaban, Palongoguer, Macasendeg, and Olandang.
They are now temporarily housed in some 15 evacuation centers in Midsayap, North Cotabato. Some evacuees sought refuge in their relatives' houses in the poblacion.
In Aleosan, 1,460 affected families from barangays Bagolibas, Dualing, Pagangan, San Mateo, Dunguan, and Tapodoc also fled their homes. Of the affected families, 739 are housed in different evacuation centers in the poblacion. The rest are temporarily staying with relatives.
About 317 families from Pigcawayan were sheltered in evacuation centers mostly in schools near the highway. They are from barangays Tubon, Cabpangi, Bulucaon, Upper Baguer, and Hadji Maria-Balogo from sitios Marges and sitio Balogo.
In Pikit, thousands of residents from barangays Takepan, Nalapaan, and Dalingawen are fleeing these areas.
Mern-Central Mindanao reported that one Eliseo Pano, 80, resident of Dalingawen in Pikit, died after a stray bullet hit his head Monday morning during the height of fighting in the area.
Daniel Laureo, 37 years old of Barangay Takepan, and Sandra Alim of Joint Monitoring and Assistance Team (JMAT) were wounded.
In an interview in Shariff Aguak Monday, Senator Gordon said they have 32 evacuation centers spread all over in North Cotabato and Maguindanao.
He said they expect the number of evacuees to swell as the AFP and MILF fighting continue.
Gordon appealed to both parties to stop the war and go back to the negotiating table.
"Sana pag-usapan na lang natin ito kesa magbarilan sila (I hope they are going to talk this over instead of fighting). I am calling for the National Government to help in any way they can so as to address the armed conflict here," Gordon said.
Skirmishes started since last month in the two provinces but it was only on Sunday where the AFP launched an all-out offensive against the MILF rebels who continued to defy the 24-hour ultimatum given by the government for the MILF to vacate the barangays they forcibly occupied since July 1.
The ultimatum lapsed Friday morning, but until Sunday the MILF under Kumander Umbra Kato of the 105th Base Command refused to heed the government.
Since Sunday, howitzers and bombs were dropped in the MILF position in Barangay Baliki in Midsayap, North Cotabato. (Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex/With AP)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Baguio. (August 12, 2008 issue)
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