DIFFERENT BATTLE A contingent of policewomen and female soldiers will be deployed to evacuation centers in Iligan City and in other areas in the provinces of Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte to assist families displaced by the fighting in Marawi City. —DIVINA M. SUSON
MARAWI CITY — The 102 female police officers and soldiers sent to this battle-scarred capital of Lanao del Sur were well aware of their daunting task in helping residents of this city, which was attacked by terrorists, recover quickly.
Insp. Jecille Ibañez said most of them, deployed here as part of the joint civil relations team of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police, were excited to work with evacuees in rehabilitation and recovery efforts.
But Ibañez said they were also aware that the job would not be easy largely due to perceptions that the military and the police were responsible for the destruction of Marawi.
Displacement
The fighting between government forces and Islamic State-inspired terrorists who took over sections of the city on May 23 entered is 100th day on Wednesday and had displaced nearly 500,000 people from the city and nearby areas.
Ibañez, a Bohol native whose last assignment was in Maguindanao province, said her fellow soldiers knew that they would have a hard time dealing with some of the evacuees.
“We expect that it will be more difficult to dialogue with them, especially so that they see us as the enemy, that we are to blame for what happened to Marawi,” she added.
But Ibañez assured that she and the more than 100 policewomen and female soldiers sent here would take the extra effort to make people understand what really happened to their hometown.
“We will explain to them … that we in the government are willing to help, whatever the cost may be,” she said.
Ibañez said their deployment here was meant to show the people that the government was with them as they prepared to rise from the devastation.
Ibañez said they wore white hijabs (head scarves) as a way to demonstrate this. “It is one way of showing [our] respect to the Muslim culture. It is an honor to wear it,” she added.
Helping women
First Lt. Ginalyn Peña, a native of Pulacan town in Zamboanga del Sur province, said her assignment here was an opportunity to help those most affected by the fighting.
“Helping them is a big opportunity and it will also show them that women can do many things, even in the event of a crisis,” Peña said.
The team arrived here on Tuesday via the Laguindingan Airport in Misamis Oriental province. Its members were taken from various AFP and PNP units in the country and underwent training for two weeks on psychosocial intervention before their deployment.
Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez, Jr., commander of the Western Mindanao Command, said the military and the police thought of sending women here to help the government determine the needs of the displaced, especially those vulnerable like children, women and the elderly.
“We conceived the idea of forming an all-woman group because of [cultural sensitivity, because] men cannot mingle with women [here],” Galvez added.
He said the deployment indicated that the fighting and clearing operations were coming to an end.
“But the most important work after this crisis is really recovery and rehabilitation and bringing back normalcy in Marawi City. These female soldiers and policewomen will play a big part in it,” Galvez added.