ICRC cuts humanitarian aid to Phl by P50 million

MANILA, Philippines - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is cutting its humanitarian assistance fund to the Philippines by P50 million this year due to the world economic crisis.

But Christoph Sutter, ICRC deputy head of delegation in the Philippines, said that despite the funding reduction for 2011, the ICRC remains committed to assisting vulnerable people and those detained due to armed conflicts.

“The reduction in funding for humanitarian activities globally due to the world economic crisis has forced the ICRC to make some difficult choices in cuts to its budget recently. In the Philippines, we have had to reduce 1 million CHF (P50 million) from activities planned for later this year,” Sutter said in a press statement.

“We have decided to reduce the number of workshops and seminars we hold, as well as our support for those we send abroad for training and courses in humanitarian law,” Sutter said.

He added that the ICRC has done everything it can to keep the core of its activities in the Philippines, and this time it will prioritize programs directly assisting conflict-affected people and improving conditions in places of detention.

Serious overcrowding

The ICRC has urged the Philippines to ease serious overcrowding in its prisons, where the US government said hundreds had died from tuberculosis and other ailments.

“The ICRC has noticed this problem for many years, and has been talking at the highest level with the authorities about the challenges,” Sutter said.

Detained individuals routinely suffered long trial delays and had to wait for months, if not years, before being sentenced or freed from jails where TB is prevalent, Sutter said.

“We are also dealing with the difficult situation of the infrastructure, which is most of the time old and under pressure from the high rate of overcrowding,” Sutter said.

“It is positive and significant that the President and the administration in general have recognized the seriousness of (the problem),” he added.

Around 99,000 people are detained in the Philippines’ prisons, according to official Bureau of Jail Management and Penology as well as Bureau of Corrections data, including nearly 59,000 whose trials are ongoing.

Meantime, Sutter stressed that the ICRC’s large scale assistance programs in several conflict areas in Mindanao will also be reduced but not because of the lack of funds but largely due to the prevailing relative peace in the region brought about the ongoing peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).