Sulu evacuees reach 60,000, say officials

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Almost 60,000 Sulu residents have already been displaced by the hostilities between government troops and the men of rogue Moro National Liberation Front commander Habier Malik, disaster and relief officials said.

Amilbahar Amilasan, presidential assistant for Sulu under the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, cited reports from the Sulu coordinating center that the evacuees have swelled to 59,270.

Amilasan said the evacuees belong to 11,854 families, who have fled their villages since Malik’s group attacked Marine and Army camps in Panamao and Parang towns last April 13, triggering a military offensive.

The military said Indanan villagers were also forced to evacuate because of reports that Malik’s group had threatened to swoop down on military detachments in the area.

The Sulu coordinating center reported that the US government and various relief organizations, including the United Nations, and the social welfare department of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao have sent assistance to the evacuees temporarily housed in different schools.

The US government has granted $75,000 (P3.5 million) to the Save the Children Federation to provide immediate relief assistance to the displaced families. The relief aid will be distributed by the Mindanao Emergency Response Network.

Some 1,120 sacks of rice, part of the 4,000 sacks donated by the United Nations World Food Program, have also arrived and distributed to the evacuation centers.

Lt. Gen. Eugenio Cedo, chief of the Armed Forces Western Mindanao Command, said the military was also assisting in the relief operations.

Amilasan, however, said 314 families have returned to their homes as the tension has subsided.