Nearly 10,000 famlies displaced by Maguindanao clashes

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines - Nearly 10,000 families have been displaced and 19,000 elementary and high school students have been affected by the military's "all-out offensive" against the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.

Data from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao's Humanitarian Emergency Assistance and Response Team (HEART) showed that a total of 9,838 families or close to 16,000 individuals have been displaced by the clashes in eight towns in the province as of Tuesday.

It said that 40 schools have been shut down in the conflict-stricken towns. It added that 18,448 elementary and high school students have been affected by the schools' closures.

Meanwhile, at least 2,072 evacuees from peasant enclaves at the border of Maguindanao’s adjoining Sharif Aguak and Mamasapano towns have benefited from the provincial government’s relief mission on Tuesday.

The evacuees, about sixty percent of them women, children and elderly, abandoned their homes for fear of an outbreak of hostilities between members of the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and government forces.

Three tons of relief supplies were dispersed by the office of Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu, through the provincial rescue and relief group led by the governor’s chief budget aide, Lynette Estandarte, during relief operations Tuesday at the boundary of Sharif Aguak and Mamasapano.

The humanitarian missions of Mangudadatu’s office were initiated simultaneous with the dispersal of more than 10 tons of food rations by the HEART to evacuees confined in Barangays Libutan and Salbu, in Mamapasano and Datu Saudi towns, respectively.

ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman, chairman of the regional peace and order council, led the distribution of relief supplies by the HEART to thousands of villagers forced to relocate to safer areas for fear of getting trapped in a BIFF-military crossfire.

Reports obtained from the HEART indicated that the ARMM government had extended relief and rehabilitation services to 7,208 displaced families from February 28 to March 3.