MANILA, Philippines - The secessionist group Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) had joined government troops in the distribution of relief goods to the victims of Typhoon Frank in Cotabato City over the weekend.
The joint relief mission is a confidence-building measure that highlights the joint relief efforts of the government and the MILF to complement the ongoing peace process, said Presidential Peace Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr in a statement Sunday.
Esperon noted that the mission, dubbed as Tabang Guligaw, occurred days after the government and the MILF resolved the contentious issue of ancestral domain that has been plaguing the resumption of peace negotiations for months.
(This is) a rare public display of unity aimed to achieve a lasting peace for Mindanao, he said.
"Tabang Guligaw" was spearheaded by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) in coordination with the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) and Office of Civil Defense (OCD), which donated 15,000 kilos of rice to over 500 families.
The Bangsamoro Development Agency (BDA), the MILF's development arm, assisted in the relief distribution Biniruan village in Poblacion 9.
Department Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) provided initially 22 sacks of rice and tents for the evacuees. The Act for Peace, an NGO, donated P 10,000.00 worth of rice.
BDA Executive Director Danda Juanday said the relief mission was aimed at providing enough rice for the typhoon victims that will last for weeks.
Al Ihsan Foundation, Inc., a non-government organization (NGO), conducted a survey and validated the names of the beneficiaries to ensure that only the victims of the typhoon would receive the relief goods.
Hundreds of families evacuated to Madrasa (Arabic schools) at the height of Typhoon Frank that hit Mindanao and many parts of the country last month. Many of the evacuees were also housed in temporary shelters in the village of Biniruan.
Jackie Mohammad, barangay captain of Biniruan, said surging floodwaters destroyed agricultural crops in the area.
"One hundred percent of the residents' livelihood here is farming. But now, we can't go back to our farms because these have been damaged by the typhoon," he said. - GMANews.TV