COTABATO CITY, Philippines --- The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao on Thursday dispatched to Zamboanga City three more truckloads of relief goods for distribution to residents dislocated by the standoff between the followers of Nur Misuari and government forces.
Amihilda Sangcopan, chief of staff of the Office of the Regional Governor (ORG), said the supplies, comprised of thousands of hygiene kits and food packs, will be turned over to the office of Zamboanga City Mayor Isabelle Climaco.
Zamboanga City is not a component area of ARMM, but is a major trading center for residents of the island provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.
Juni Ilimin, undersecretary of the ARMM’s local government secretary, who, along with Gov. Mujiv Hataman, has been helping in relief works in Zamboanga City since Tuesday, said a sizable number of the evacuees were residents of the Basilan-Sulu-Tawi-Tawi (BASULTA) area, who are either studying or working in the city.
Sangcopan said Hataman has mobilized the autonomous region’s inter-agency Humanitarian Emergency Action and Response Team (HEART) contingent to help address the needs of thousands of Zamboanga residents dislocated by hostilities.
The relief supplies also consisted of tarpaulins, that can be used as tents, and sleeping mats.
Sangcopan, who was born and raised in Zamboanga City, said the evacuees are in a pitiful condition, uncertain of when can they return to their strife-torn villages.
Hataman has also tasked the ARMM’s health department to organize a medical team to assist the office of Climaco in attending to the health needs of the evacuees.
Sangcopan said they are now coordinating with the police and military the shipment of relief supplies to villages affected by Thursday’s attack by MNLF forces of villages at Colonia District in Lamitan City, which left a civilian community watchman dead and three government combatants wounded.