ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / May 22, 2014) – The military’s Western Mindanao Command headquarters in Zamboanga City has donated 29 trash bins and water containers to a refugee site as part of its community development program.
The project was in partnership with the Western Mindanao State University. The donations were handed over to Nur Jeopakkal, village chieftain of Tulungatong, one of the government’s evacuation areas occupied by victims of war.
The handover of trash bins and water containers were also witnessed by Professors Aleyssa Karim, Ludy Dequit and Janette Francisco, of the Zamboanga City Social Welfare and Development Office, and social worker Ceilita Quisel.
Just recently, the Western Mindanao Command, under Lt. Gen. Rustico Guererro, also donated relief goods to refugees in Tulungatong ang the village of Upper Calarian.
More than 120,000 people had been displaced by fighting in Zamboanga City after Moro National Liberation Front members launched simultaneous attacks. The violence lasted over three weeks and left more than 400 people dead and wounded.
The rebel group under Nur Misuari signed a peace agreement in September 1996, but many of its members were disgruntled by the government’s failure to fully implement the accord. (Mindanao Examiner)
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