ACT for Peace Programme - 1,830 families to return home after more than a year of displacement

1,830 families to return home after more than a year of displacement

Monday, 21 December 2009

DATU PIANG, Maguindanao – At least 1,830 families displaced by armed conflict in 2008 that have been taking refuge in this town are set to go home to their respective communities, including the 80 families who came from Mamasapano and Shariff Aguak towns following the Ampatuan massacre on November 23 this year.

This after a series of dialogues conducted by the local government, leaders of the bakwit (local term for internally-displaced persons [IDPs]), police and military with the support of the non-government organizations and the GoP-UN ACT for Peace Programme through its Strengthening Response to Internal Displacement (StRIDe) Mindanao Project.

Those involved in the dialogues are now drafting a Memorandum of Understanding to stipulate agreements reached by the parties for the safe return of the IDPs to different towns of Maguindanao and nearby barangays of Midsayap in North Cotabato.

“Sana magkaroon na kami ng kopya ng MOU para mapakita namin kung may magtanong sa amin pagbalik namin sa aming lugar (I hope we can secure a copy of the MOU so that we can show it to anyone who will ask us upon our return to our place),” said 65-year-old Mindo Kamsa from Damatulan, Midsayap during the distribution of pabaon to IDPs who are returning.

Kamsa said his family and other IDPs started to return to Damatulan three weeks ago and are now working on their farms.

Datu Piang Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office records showed 2,485 IDP families or 12,425 persons staying in the town as of December 15, 2009, a drop from the 3,891 IDP families (19,455 persons) recorded on November 15, 2009. Some of the IDPs came from the inner barangays of the town itself.

Data gathered by Maguindanao Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office and the Mindanao Emergency Response Network showed that the province had 34,874 IDP families or 174,370 persons as of December 15.

The returning IDPs were provided with food assistance that includes 5 kilos of rice, cans of sardines, dried fish, mongo, laundry and bath soap. A package of rehabilitation assistance that includes support to livelihood, the main concern of the IDPs, is being addressed by concerned government agencies and LGUs with support of various donor programs.

“The MILF and the GRP panels have now reconvened and they discussed efforts in assisting and protecting the IDPs,” Sec. Jesus Dureza, presidential adviser for Mindanao and national programme director of the ACT for Peace told the IDPs during a gathering attended by Lt. Gen. Raymundo Ferrer, commanding general of the Eastern Mindanao Command of the AFP, other military and police officials, and local government officials, Saturday (December 19).

A separate package of rehabilitation assistance is being provided to IDPs who opted to stay in Datu Piang. In Barangay Buayan, 50 core shelters with sanitation facilities, amounting to P2.7 million, are being constructed through the assistance of the European Commission-funded StRIDe-Mindanao Project.

The rehabilitation support to the barangay also covers the installation of 11 units of Level 1 water system, establishment of Botika ng Barangay, integrated health and nutrition program, provision of ‘quick impact’ livelihood with capability-building assistance, and conduct of psychosocial / stress debriefing sessions for IDPs, particularly children.

The P5-million total rehabilitation support to IDPs in Buayan is implemented by Mindanao Tulong Bakwet (MTB) and the Datu Piang LGU.

Buayan is among one of the six conflict-affected barangays in Maguindanao that are being supported by the StRIDE Mindanao Project, which is funded by the European Commission, in its early recovery and rehabilitation process. A total of 30 communities in Sarangani, Sultan Kudarat, South Cotabato, Lanao del Norte, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga Sibugay, Sulu, Basilan, Maguindanao and North Cotabato are being assisted for a multi-sectoral rehabilitation under StRIDe Mindanao.

The assistance is seen to complement with other efforts aimed at contributing to the establishment of a durable solution to internal displacement by improving the delivery of assistance to victims of armed conflicts, promoting IDP rights and strengthening response to prevent displacement.

Aside from the 30 communities under the StRIDE Mindanao Project, the ACT for Peace Programme is also supporting 277 peace and development communities that are undergoing transformation processes in Mindanao and Palawan. (ACT for Peace)