Philippines: Half a million affected by worst fighting since 2003

So Nograles (speaker of the house) wants to amend the constitution to do away with the 60-40 split demanded of foreign investors. This would certainly open the Philippines to foreign investment because there would be no requirement at all that the investment should return profits to the Philippines! Nograles seems to think that Muslim investments would be safe but the experience so far has been that radicals extort funds as much as they can from any business.
During Ramadan there will probably be a lull in fighting but who knows what will happen afterwards especially if there is no progress in negotiations.


.5M affected by worst fighting since 2003
09/07/2008
The fighting between government forces and supposed renegade forces of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has reached its worst point in five years, displacing up to half a million Filipinos, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said yesterday.
Up to a half a million people have been obliged to leave their homes due to the conflict, Carla Haddad, a spokeswoman for ICRC said.
Felipe Donoso, head of ICRC delegation in the Philippines, citing government sources, said the largest displacement took place in North Cotabato where over 130,000 persons fled their homes a few days after widespread fighting resumed on Aug. 10 after the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order against signing a peace agreement.
“Many have been returning to their villages since, but about 50,000 remain in evacuation centers for fear of renewed clashes. Fighting also started in other southern provinces, temporarily displacing over 80,000 people,” Donoso said.
Donoso expressed fears over a prolonged conflict’s effect on relief efforts.
“With the fighting appearing to continue and the security situation remaining volatile, it is likely that tens of thousands of families will be displaced over the coming weeks. Villagers in conflict-ridden areas know how to cope with frequent short-term displacements. But, their coping mechanisms may collapse if the displacement stretches over several weeks or months,” he said. “To avoid a humanitarian crisis, the ICRC plans to distribute food rations to 325,000 persons over the next four months,” Donoso said.
ICRC teams in the conflict areas are currently operating out of three cities: Iligan, General Santos and Cotabato, Donoso said.
“The recent events in Mindanao only add to the hardship endured by hundreds of thousands of Filipinos, some of whose homes were recently devastated by typhoons,” he said.
Owing to the enduring conflict, most Mindanao provinces are poverty-stricken. Healthcare services are now stretched to cater not just for the resident population, but the wounded and displaced as well.
While some people are able to return home, others remain in evacuation centers as a result of the clashes which “are the worst since 2003,” Haddad said in Geneva where the ICRC is headquartered.
The situation for people on southern Mindanao will stay difficult for some time to come because of a breakdown in the peace process, she added.
The ICRC plans to provide medical assistance, food and shelter to 325,000 persons on the island by year’s end.
Fighting broke out between Philippine troops and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Aug. 10. The 12,000-strong MILF has been fighting for a separate Islamic state since 1978. In 2003 it signed a ceasefire with Manila to open the way for peace talks.
The ICRC also called on the military and Muslim rebels not to stop aid reaching civilians displaced by the fighting.
ICRC deputy director Dominik Stillhart made his appeal after
saying he had heard reports that a UN World Food Program convoy carrying aid to the area had been stolen.
He called on the army and the MILF to respect international laws protecting non-combatants amid the violence in southern Mindanao island, which he said was at its worst for five years.
“They must take all possible steps to spare civilians from the effects of hostilities and must allow and facilitate the deliveries of emergency relief and medical supplies to all who need them,” said Stillhart.
“The ICRC is stepping up its operation in the region over the coming months. We intend to provide assistance and protection for up to 350,000 people between now and the end of the year.”
He would not elaborate on whether this meant the ICRC expected the fighting to last that long but said the increased aid was needed because “the conflict here is extremely violent.”
“Up to half a million people have been displaced by the hostilities and tens of thousands of them have had to flee their homes,” he said.
There have been accusations that the MILF had hijacked a food shipment in the town of Mamaspano on Wednesday, while the government has been forced to dismiss accusations that soldiers were blocking food from reaching civilians.
The fighting between government troops and MILF guerrillas broke out in Mindanao last month after the Supreme Court suspended a draft agreement on August 4 intended to pave the way for a formal peace accord.
“Mindanao has suffered its worst fighting since 2003,” Stillhart told reporters, saying that the ICRC had to bring in additional staff to deal with the increased number of civilians displaced by the combat.
Conditions for the civilians were difficult, he said, especially since it rains almost every night in the south, forcing people to crowd into the small schoolrooms that are doubling as evacuation centers.
He recalled stories of people fleeing in the night, amid heavy rain, with one mother forced to wrap her baby in plastic to protect the child.
ICRC officials refused to speculate on whether there might be more evacuations, especially if fighting steps up following the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
“We do not know what will happen after Ramadan,” said ICRC delegate Perry Proellochs but he expressed hope that some of the evacuees could return.
The government’s civil defence office said Saturday that 501,709 people had been displaced by the violence, with at least 67 dead, although military estimates put the death toll much higher.
The 12,000-strong MILF has been fighting for a separate Islamic state since 1978. In 2003 it signed a ceasefire with Manila to open the way for peace talks.
Mindanao can be extricated from its present “chicken and egg” situation—where peace is impossible to achieve with widespread poverty and poverty is impossible to solve without peace—if only the government could invite Arab investments that would generate jobs and jumpstart development in the region, Speaker Prospero Nograles said.
Nograles said investments from rich Islamic countries can safely operate in Mindanao because they enjoy the trust and respect of Filipino Muslims, including the insurgents.
“No Muslim would blow up an Arab investment,” Nograles surmised adding that nearly all major Mosques in the country are build from funds coming from the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC).
Nograles said Mindanao is trapped in a situation where investments and infrastructure development that would generate jobs and provide livelihood to the Muslims and Christians in Mindanao cannot be put in place because of the volatile peace and order situation in the area.
He said that many investors attempted to put up job-generating businesses in some parts of Mindanao, including the province of Basilan, which is a known lair of the Abu Sayaff Group (ASG), but decided to withdraw due to constant harassment and extortion by armed groups.
Nograles lamented that Mindanao hotspots such as Basilan, Tawi-Tawi and Sulu have so much potential in terms of investments. Basilan is dotted with palm oil trees and it is also suitable for rubber tree plantations while Tawi-Tawi and Sulu are believed to hold huge deposits of oil and natural gas. The islands are also endowed with picture-perfect natural beauty that can match even the world’s best tourist destinations.
“There are some who say that we can’t have peace because there is no economic development, and we are poor. Some say investments won’t come in because there is no peace. So, we really have a problem,” he said.
“Since the insurgency in Mindanao is largely Muslim-related, I believe that we should put in investments coming from our Muslim brothers from the OIC. The insurgents will not touch them especially because nearly all major Mosques in our country are funded by members of the OIC,” he said.
Inviting Arab investments, Nograles said, can be the best approach to jumpstart the development of Mindanao but they are discouraged by the restrictive equity requirement in the Constitution.
And with China and even Vietnam opening up their economies, Nograles said that the country is losing much of its advantage as a viable investment destination.
“Our Arab friends and OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) friends also tell us why go to Mindanao with our money and technology and you just give us 40 percent and you (Filipinos) keep 60 percent?”
“This was why I filed a Resolution (now with the Committee on Constitutional Amendments chaired by Rep. Victor Ortega) removing the 60-40 provision from the Constitution so that foreign corporations could come in, especially in areas of oil and mineral exploration and other major projects like a Mindanao railway system,” Nograles said.
Charlie V. Manalo, AFP