Zambo folk to Pope: We need prayers, too

A Badjao woman with her severely malnourished child strike a pose reminiscent of the Madonna and Child at their unit in Masepla, a transition site for Zamboanga City residents displaced by war between government forces and followers of Moro leader Nur Misuari. JULIE S. ALIPALA/INQUIRER MINDANAO

ZAMBOANGA CITY—At least 98 evacuees from this city, driven out of their homes by fighting between followers of Moro leader Nur Misuari and government forces, got their chance to have a glimpse of Pope Francis when the Pope went to a gathering of families at an arena in Manila.

Their voices, however, continue to cry for help as their condition following the fighting barely improved.

Evacuees, many of them members of the seafaring Badjao tribe, have wanted the Pope to listen to their pleas but all they can do now is pray quietly that their situation will change.

The evacuees, from the village of Santa Catalina here, have wished for the Pope to pray for them “so we can have peace and so we can have good health,” according to Editha Jalao, who lost her house and belongings during the fighting between government forces and followers of Misuari, who occupied the city and triggered a bloody siege by the Army.

“We transferred from one place to the other, running short of whatever we have saved,” Jalao said.

“We fervently hope that Pope Francis will include us in his prayers,” she said, clutching the only thing she was able to save at the height of the war—an image of the Child Jesus.

Jenny Baguasan, 38, a mother of seven children, said all she was asking from Pope Francis “is for him to bring peace between Christians and Muslims.”

“I pray that he will call all those groups with firearms to put these down and live with other faiths in peace,” Baguasan said, adding that some of her Muslim neighbors helped her family at the height of the fighting.

“I am very grateful to them and I feel so sad whenever I hear stories about Christians and Muslims fighting,” she said.

“If we want peace, we might as well appeal that guns be thrown away because guns are the main cause of trouble,” she added.

Another resident, single mother Esterlita Carcueva said: “All we need is for him to bless the IDPs (internally displaced persons). Blessing the Typhoon ‘Haiyan’ (Supertyphoon ‘Yolanda’) IDPs is also like blessing us IDPs here.”

Jalao, Baguasan and Carcueva were among the 19 families who moved to their permanent housing units in Santa Catalina village recently.

Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar said it was this year’s first turnover of housing units to beneficiaries.

“Despite all the problems that we have in the city, people are rebuilding their houses, rebuilding their lives,” Salazar said.

Salazar joined the IDPs in wishing that Pope Francis “would pray for our city.” Julie S. Alipala, Inquirer Mindanao