14,400 families remain in centers

COTABATO CITY—Some 14,400 families remain in evacuation centers even weeks after the military ended its all-out offensive against the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in Maguindanao province.

Of the total 25,067 families earlier housed in various evacuation sites, 10,648 have returned home while 14,419 families preferred to remain in centers under the social services care of the government, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Gov. Mujiv Hataman said.

A total of P59.6 million from the Special Purpose Fund of the Office of the Regional Governor have been spent in buying 82,020 food packs (rice, canned goods, noodles, others) in nonstop relief distribution work by the regional Humanitarian Emergency Action Response Team (HEART), Hataman told the Inquirer by phone.

He said the security cluster, led by the Army’s 6th Infantry Division based in Maguindanao, had started to stabilize the hostile situation in BIFF-occupied villages adjacent to the Liguasan Marsh to ensure the safe return of the remaining internally displaced persons.

ARMM Executive Secretary Laisa Masuhud-Alamia earlier cited fear and uncertainty as reasons the evacuees refuse to return to their homes.

“Thus the need for psychosocial intervention,” Alamia said.

Reports reaching the ARMM’s HEART said the mere sight of uniformed men patrolling in the vicinity is causing apprehension among residents. “That’s why there’s a need to calm them down,” Alamia said. Charlie C. Señase, Inquirer Mindanao