Monday, October 06, 2008
EU pledges funds for war displaced Filipinos (7:38 p.m)
MANILA - European governments have approved a grant for food, water and other emergency supplies for nearly 300,000 villagers displaced by two months of fighting in Mindanao, an official said Monday.
The US$10 million (euro7 million) approved in Brussels last week would supplement Manila's rapidly dwindling relief funds for communities caught in the clashes between government troops and Muslim rebels, said Ambassador Alistair MacDonald, the European Commission's head of delegation.
Funds will be used for emergency food and drinking water, sanitation, shelter, health care, and rehabilitation projects for villagers, displaced by fighting in earlier years, to return to their normal lives.
MacDonald reiterated a call by the European Union for the Philippine government and the 11,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front "to show restraint and genuine respect for the rule of law" and immediately resume Malaysian-brokered peace talks.
After two months of conflict, it is clear the government's funds for displaced villagers "are very overstretched," MacDonald told a news conference. (AP) |
