Lanao del Norte ready to receive Marawi evacuees
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The provincial government of Lanao del Norte said on Wednesday it was ready to receive evacuees, who fled Marawi City amid clashes between government troops and Maute group members.
Lyndon Calica, Lanao del Norte information officer, said Gov. Imelda Quibranza-Dimaporo has instructed the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office to prepare for the possible flow of displaced residents from Marawi.
“The governor has ordered the mobilization of the quick response team in case evacuees will arrive from Marawi,” Calica said Wednesday.
He said they have readied evacuation centers in the towns of Balo-i and Pantar. “We are willing to receive them (evacuees).”
Calica added that security forces had also been augmented especially in the boundaries of the two Lanao provinces to prevent the hostilities from spilling over to Lanao del Norte.
The local government of Iligan City, where most of the Marawi residents sought temporary shelter, has also set up two evacuation sites for the incoming displaced civilians.
Vice Mayor Jemar Vera Cruz said on Wednesday afternoon that the city disaster management office has identified the Iligan City National School of Fisheries in Barangay Buru-un and the Iligan City National High School in Barangay Mahayahay as evacuation centers.
“The CDRRMO has already been advised to prepare food packs and other basic necessities for the evacuees,” Vera Cruz said.
“What we are looking at are those poor who have nowhere to go. The evacuation center is open for them,” Vera Cruz added.
Iligan City police director, Senior Superintendent Leony Roy Ga, said they have deployed more police personnel to set up checkpoints all over the city to prevent the terror group from entering the city.
Ga said they have received intelligence reports that the Maute Group and Abu Sayyaf are also targeting Iligan City.
The flow of evacuees had cause traffic congestion along the national highway in Barangay Suarez in Iligan as policemen and soldiers manning the checkpoint there had to stop every vehicle coming from Marawi to check the passengers and cargoes.
