Families displaced by BIFF atrocities returned home

From the Philippine News Agency (Jan 5): Families displaced by BIFF atrocities returned home

Families displaced by hostilities due to attacks by outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in Ampatuan, Maguindanao have already returned home, disaster officials said.

However, another 1,000 families in another Maguindanao municipality remained in evacuation centers due to infighting involving Moro armed groups.

The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao-Humanitarian Emergency Action Response Team (ARMM-HEART) Tuesday reported that families in several sub-villages of Kauran, Ampatuan Maguindanao have returned home as of Monday, January 4.

Capt. Joan Petinglay, spokesperson of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said police and soldiers have been deployed in Barangay Kauran, the predominantly Christian dominated community of farmers.

ARMM-HEART is an inter-agency tasked to carry out emergency response in time of man-made and natural calamities in the region.

On Monday, it also distributed relief goods and food packs to some 820 families in nearby Datu Abdulla Sangki which the BIFF also attacked after wreaking havoc in adjacent Barangay Kauran on the eve of Christmas last year.

Myrna Jo Henry, speaking for ARMM-HEART, said about 700 families were also displaced by infighting involving Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerrillas in Sultan sa Barongis, also in Maguindanao, about 10 kilometers away from Ampatuan town.

Maguindanao provincial board member Bobby Katambak said the fighting in Sultan sa Barogis has displaced 650 people or about 95 families. They are now housed at the evacuation center in the Poblacion.

Gov. Esmael Toto Mangudadatu also led separate relief operations to families affected by the MILF clashes and urged the government and MILF ceasefire panels to mediate so normalcy is restored in affected communities.

In North Cotabato, some 1,000 families are still in evacuation sites in Barangay Kidama, Matalam, North Cotabato, refusing to return home for fear armed confrontation between MILF and Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) will erupt anytime.

North Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Mendoza has led the distribution of food packs and other provisions to affected families, many of whom were Muslim residents and relatives of warring clans.

Military and police officials said the conflict was triggered by a long standing family feud over land ownership.

Senior Insp. Sunny Leoncito, Matalam town police chief, said the fire fight involving MNLF and rival Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) occurred at about 7 p.m. on December 31.

Leoncito told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) that the clan war involved MNLF under Kamid Mangadta alias Commander Dragon and MILF 108th base commander leader Kepig Imbong who was a village council member of Barangay Kidama.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=843285