Troops secure aid delivery to Marawi IDPs

From the Philippine News Agency (Jul 27): Troops secure aid delivery to Marawi IDPs

Government troops have provided tight security to ensure safe passage of truckloads of humanitarian aid for the 2,000 displaced families in nearby town of Ditsaan-Ramain in Lanao del Sur.

The town of Ditsaan-Ramain, which is supposed to be the nearest municipality from this city, became the farthest after the route towards the area was cut when fighting started between the government forces and the Daesh-inspired group on May 23.

Capt. Jo-ann Petinglay, Joint Task Force Marawi spokesperson, on Thursday said nine truckloads of humanitarian aid were delivered on Wednesday by the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO) and various humanitarian aid organizations.

“Each family received a half-sack of rice, some canned goods and other commodities through the courtesy of the World Food Program, a humanitarian organization of the United Nations,” Petinglay added.

Ditsaan-Ramain Municipal Planning and Development Coordinator Mustapha Salic said the truckloads of humanitarian aid was the fourth set of relief goods the government has distributed to the evacuees.

PSWDO personnel and from the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) assisted in the delivery while the Ramain municipal government supervised the distribution of the relief goods.

Salic said the evacuees earlier received kitchen utensils, food packs, and hygiene kits from various benefactors.

Ditsaan-Ramain Mayor Saidamen Amer Adiong said there is a dire need for the continued delivery of relief goods to the internally displaced persons (IDPs).

“We want to thank you (the donors) for heeding to the cry of Maranaos and for delivering more assistance to the refugees,” Adiong said.

“I also commend the armed forces for allowing our fishermen from 14 barangays in Ramain to continue fishing in Lanao Lake for their sustenance,” he added.

Representatives of the Department of Trade and Industry in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (DTI-ARMM) were also present to monitor the prices of basic commodities in the municipalities hosting evacuees, including Saguiaran, Pantar, and Ditsaan-Ramain.

Provincial Administrator Nasser Repors said they monitored a slight increase of prices of commodities in the area.

“The slight increase in the prices is tolerable, taking into consideration the transportation expenses incurred by small-scale entrepreneurs, who are passing a longer route after commuters were denied access on the previous route from Marawi to Ditaan-Ramain and vice versa,” Repors said.

He said they recommended to the local government of Ditsaan-Ramain the immediate activation of the Local Price Coordinating Council (LPCC) to monitor and regulate the prices of commodities.

Rolling stores loaded with goods with the same prices as that in Iligan City are arriving anytime within the week.

The Task Group Tabang has also distributed 4,250 food packs to the IDPs housed in the municipalities of Balo-i and Saguiran.

The food packs, which were donated by ARMM regional government, were transported from Central Mindanao aboard military trucks of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division to this city.

“We wish to give humanitarian efforts the same priority as with our combat operations,” Brig. Gen. Rolando Joselito Bautista, Joint Task Force Marawi commander.

Civil Military Operations officers and personnel together with humanitarian groups are currently embedded in different evacuation centers to foster and care for the evacuees and to somehow ease their burdens through the conduct of different recreational activities.

Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr., Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) chief, has thanked the World Food Organization and ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman for the food packs provided to the IDPs.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1003311