August 21, 2008

On August 8, a commander of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) occupied 20 barangays (communities) in the North Cotabato province of Mindanao. Three days earlier the official signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) which would have expanded areas in the autonomous Moro region was blocked by a temporary restraining order issued by the Philippine Supreme Court. The MOA had been negotiated by the Government of the Philippines (GRP) and the MILF for about three years.

The GRP gave the commander 48 hours to vacate the barangays. Over 100,000 civilians fled their homes during the next three days for fear of being caught in a crossfire. On August 11th the GRP began shelling and bombing the area.

NP peacekeepers working in support of our partner organization, Bantay Ceasefire, accompanied people to evacuation centres and then stayed with them for the next two nights.

They, including visiting Nonviolent Peaceforce Executive Director Mel Duncan, also met with the G-7 Group which is made up the captains of 7 barangays that have established themselves as a peace zone. Many of their residents had fled to the town of Pikit and were staying in the local high school.

By the following Sunday, August 17, people had decided to return and NP Peacekeepers accompanied the families back to their homes. On the request of local barangay leaders, NP coordinated with the official Ceasefire Structure and other key authorities.

On Tuesday, August 19, NP also provided accompaniment to UNICEF and several International Non-Governmental Organizations as they did an assessment in some of the remote areas that had been damaged during the battle.

See added field note:

Accompanying the Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in Mindanao, 21 August 2008