Int’l organization to help 7,500 displaced persons in Mindanao

An international organization on Saturday expressed intent to help 7,500 people in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao displaced by the fighting between government troops and secessionist forces two years ago. The International Organization for Migration (IOM), with the help of the Humanitarian Aid Department of the European Commission (ECHO), plans to help displaced families in Mindanao by providing them livelihood packages and materials to rebuild their homes. “Many displaced families lost everything when they were forced to flee the conflict and the project is helping them to rebuild their homes and to restart their livelihoods," the group said in a news release posted on its website Saturday. The IOM specifically targets families affected by clashes between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in two municipalities of Maguindanao province in 2008. Fighting broke out between the AFP and MILF two years ago after the Supreme Court junked a memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain (MOA-AD), which was the result of negotiations between the national government and the MILF. Efforts to resume peace talks between the two parties have been undertaken by the administration of President Benigno Aquino III. (See: MILF: Peace talks may be over in 1 year, depending on gov’t sincerity) In implementing its project for the displaced families, the group plans to tap the help of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), as well as the Department of Agriculture. The IOM is an international non-governmental organization which centers on dealing with migration and its effects on people around the world. So far, the group has helped around 240 returnee families in rebuilding their homes and getting their livelihood back in selected villages in the municipalities of Guindulungan, Talayan, and Mother Kabuntalan in Maguindanao province, according to its website.—With Andreo C. Calonzo/JV, GMANews.TV