ILIGAN CITY -- Abdulwahid Macabangon, 96, and his three-year old great-grandson are currently holed up in a house in Pindoguan, Bubong Ramain, away from the scene of fighting between Islamic State-inspired militants and governments forces.
But relatives and family members who are now in Iligan have worried about their food and medical needs hence have been seeking help to have them evacuated. In going to the place, one has to pass by Marawi, and access is still barred by authorities because of continued clashes as the crisis wore on for 10 days now.
The possibility of rescuing the Macabangons and other civilians still trapped in the besieged city may come soonest with the setting up of a “peace corridor,” giving hopes to evacuees here that they could be reunited with relatives.
In a statement, Irene Santiago, chair of the government’s peace implementing panel, said the peace corridor “is a secure space where humanitarian groups may evacuate wounded and trapped civilians and retrieve dead bodies for burial.”
“The corridor is also a safe space for good to reach hungry people in the rural areas whose access to Marawi’s markets have been cut off,” added Santiago who was designated by President Rodrigo Duterte to oversee humanitarian efforts.
The idea of a peace corridor was taken up during Duterte’s meeting with leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Davao City on Tuesday.
Santiago said the President have given the idea a go. A meeting among the peace implementing panels of government and the MILF is set within the week to agree on the parameters and mechanisms of the peace corridor.
“Having such a space will hopefully contribute to easing the humanitarian situation in Lanao del Sur,” said Abul Alibasa, a Marawi-based broadcaster who now temporarily lives in Iligan and a volunteer relief worker for the Ranao Rescue Team.
Early in the crisis, civil society leaders in the province have already urged the President to allow some respite from the military’s pursuit of the militants.
Apart from rescuing civilians and recovering dead bodies, Alibasa said there is the need to brought food supply into the province’s towns where the bulk of evacuees temporarily settled.
According to Pendatun Disimban of Bangsamoro Solidarity Network, food supply has tightened in several towns as indicated by the skyrocketing of price.
Disimban related that their local monitors reported that in Tamparan town, for example, rice is sold at P5,000 per 50-kilogram sack or P100 per kilo, more than 120 percent increase from its price prior to the crisis.
“If this situation persists, we are worried that both evacuees and host families could go hungry,” said Disimban.
Although the stretch of towns in the outskirts of Marawi up to Butig are rice-producing localities, the bulk of milling operations are in the city where power supply is relatively stable. Hence, much of the supply of milled rice from the harvest two months ago were also trapped in Marawi.
Contributing to the tightening of food supply is the stringent controls imposed by the military for the entry of goods brought by traders and relatives of evacuees through Malabang, in the province’s southern part.
“This situation must be addressed immediately. We cannot allow the specter of hunger for the evacuees,” said Disimban.
On Tuesday, civil society, religious and traditional leaders of Lanao del Sur renewed their appeal to President Duterte “to take decisive steps to ease the humanitarian situation” in the province.
In a joint statement, the Maranao leaders also appealed for Duterte to consider ways to end the armed hostilities in order to prevent the further destruction of the city.
“Mr. President, we are one with your government’s goal of wiping out terrorism from our midst. We are confident that you understand that addressing violent extremism would require transforming conditions that breed social, political and economic exclusion, a reality that is so glaring in our communities,” the statement read.
“An end to the armed hostilities will be the occasion to look at these long-running efforts in earnest, free from the distractions of the fog of war,” it added.
Hamidullah Atar, current sultan of Marawi, said his offer still stands on him dealing with the Maute group in brokering an arrangement for the release of captives and the militants withdrawing from the city to avoid it from being a battlefield.
“We cannot allow an Aleppo in Southeast Asia,” said Amerodin Cali, a development worker.
The Maranao leaders said their people “are dying to return to our homes” as “there is no better place like home… in this time of Ramadhan.”
“We will make do with what are left for us to dwell under,” they said.
“But our hearts also bleed with the thought that with the continued fighting, Marawi could suffer the fate of Zamboanga’s Rio Hondo community in 2013. More hurting is the recollection of a rather distant memory, that of the burning of Jolo in 1974.
“Please spare Marawi from a similar fate, Mr. President. The best measure of the success of government’s security operation should be how civilians and their communities are being protected instead of being made collateral damage,” the Maranao leaders implored.
“We trust in your humanitarian sense, Mr. President,” they added.