MARAWI CITY – Copies of the Bible were reportedly being distributed along with relief goods to Muslim war refugees in evacuation centers in southern Philippines.
According to the group called “I Care for Bangsamoro Movement”, Muslims were also being persuaded to enrol their children to a non-Muslim missionary school in exchange for regular allowances. This also happened to Muslim evacuees during the rebel siege of Zamboanga City in 2013.
The group also posted a photo of a Bible – which was also translated to the Meranao dialect – on their Facebook account and warned Muslim evacuees about it.
“Dalawang beses na nakatangap ang mga bakwit (evacuees) ng Marawi ng Bible sa wikang Meranao, ayon sa mga eye witnesses. Sinisama sa mg reliefs ang Bible na may pamagat na ‘So Sindaw.’ Halos 99 percent na bakwit mula Marawi ay mga Muslims.”
“Maalala na noong Zamboanga siege nangyari din ang pamimigay ng Bible sa mga bakwit. Ilan pa sa mga batang anak ng mga bawits ay nirecruit at pinagaral sa isang non-muslim missionary school at kapalit nito binibigayan ng allowances ang mga magulang,” it said.
It did not say who were behind the distribution of the Bible or the name of the missionary school and it was not immediately known whether social workers or camp managers were aware of this. There are at least 78 evacuation centers in Mindanao, 34 of which are located in the province of Lanao del Norte, one in Misamis Occidental, and 43 in Lanao del Sur, according to the military. (Mindanao Examiner)
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