ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 4, 2013) – Three Muslim provinces have banded to support government rehabilitation and humanitarian efforts in Zamboanga City in southern Philippines where thousands of war refugees are still suffering in evacuation areas where dozens of people had died from various diseases.
A second regional leaders’ summit held recently in Zamboanga City have put together the efforts of the provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi; and various civil society groups and Muslim organizations and religious leaders to help and assist the refugees.
The provinces are all part of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Sulu Vice Governor Sakur Tan was unanimously chosen as lead convener of the humanitarian group which included Governors Jum Akbar, of Basilan, and Nurbert Sahali, of Tawi-Tawi through his father, former governor Sadikul Sahali, who are actively helping the refugees here.
The summit was also attended by local government officials led by Council woman Myra Abubakar, who represented Zamboanga Mayor Maria Isabelle Salazar; and Engineer Rodrigo Sicat, of the Zamboanga City Planning and Development Coordinator, among others.
It discussed among others the so-called Zamboanga City Roadmap to Recovery and Reconstruction and efforts of the local government in helping refugees cope up with their lives. They were displaced by three weeks of street battles between security forces and hundreds of Moro National Liberation Front rebels who occupied villages in a failed rebellion in September last year.
The clashes left more than 400 people dead and wounded and forced over 120,000 people to flee their homes. The war left many villages in ruins.
Those displaced by the fighting have been herded to a sports complex here, but the poor sanitation in the evacuation site makes it uninhabitable for many, and is also threatening the health of elderly, the women and the children.
A technical working group has been organized and headed by Abubakar and Father Albert Alejo, of the Ateneo de Zamboanga University, to further draw up future projects and plans to assist the displaced civilians, many of them are still in dirty evacuation centers and public schools used as temporary shelters.
Tan, a respected politician and philanthropist, said they wanted to help as many refugees as possible to complement local and national government interventions.
Common purpose
Last December, Tan, along with his son, Governor Totoh Tan, also led the first regional leader’s summit which was supported by lawmakers Maryam Arbison, of Sulu, and Ruby Sahali, of Tawi-Tawi and their mayors.
The elder Tan said they are ready to help the refugees in Zamboanga and would coordinate closely with the local government and various agencies to ensure the welfare of the refugees. Tan was among the first to respond to post-crisis emergency and donated in several occasions millions of pesos in cash and relief aid collected in Sulu for the victims of the war in Zamboanga.
Sahali and Akbar also donated and pledged more aid to help Zamboanga deal with the problems brought about by the displacement of thousands of people who are still in refugee shelters.
The previous summit was also attended by over 200 leaders of various Muslims and Christian groups in Zamboanga City. The conveners of the meeting dubbed “Confidence building, Reconstruction and Healing: What Muslim and Christian Leaders Can Do Together,” were the Darul Ifta, the City Government of Zamboanga and the Archdiocese of Zamboanga.
Tan said: “We are here to help our refugees and we shall continue helping them in coordination with the Zamboanga City government headed by Mayor Beng (Maria Isabelle) Climaco (Salazar), and of course the various groups which share our humanitarian advocacy. We have seen how much suffering the people in the Visayas have gone through as the result of typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), but the whole world is providing that much attention, so I would rather that we do not turn our backs to our people here in Zamboanga and we are very appreciative of the efforts of the people of Zamboanga headed by no less than Mayor Beng Climaco (Salazar).”
“Pinagusapan namin ito kung paano kami makatulong dito sa Zamboanga City at nakikita namin ang kahirapan and we feel that it is also our obligation kasi unang-una our people come to Zamboanga for their medical requirements, our people come to Zamboanga for education, our people come to Zamboanga for their livelihood kaya tingin namin kailangan namin tulungan ang Zamboanga, alagaan ang Zamboanga at hindi natin puwedeng pabayaan ang Zamboanga,” he said.
The Darul Ifta of Zamboanga, a grouping composed of Muslim leaders, also vowed to support the efforts in protecting the welfare and well-being of the refugees.
Praises
Salazar praised the humanitarian efforts of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi and thanked the three governors and all those who helped Zamboanga and the refugees, many of them Tausug from Sulu ; Yakan, from Basilan; and indigenous Badjao tribe from Tawi-Tawi province – engaged in fishing and other traditional livelihoods – but they were also being relocated to the far villages of Tulungatung and Taluksangay from their original habitat in the coastal villages of Rio Hondo and Mariki and other areas.
The Zamboanga government said it has built bunkhouses as temporary shelters to those affected by the violence, but it also warned that villagers who are not natives of Zamboanga would not be allowed to return to their former abode, unless they can provide certificates to show they are landowners.
Salazar urged the refugees to transfer to bunkhouses built by the government as they work for the completion of the rehabilitation plan. President Benigno Aquino has ordered the release of nearly P4 billion in funds to rebuild Zamboanga. (Mindanao Examiner)
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