250,000 displaced in Mindanao near starvation, says UN body

COTABATO CITY, Philippines—An international aid agency estimated that at least 250,000 people in Mindanao, driven from their homes by war and disasters, are starving and would need up to $26 million in food and other forms of help.

Stephen Anderson, World Food Programme (WFP) representative to the Philippines, said the huge number of people facing starvation were either uprooted from their homes by armed conflict or forced to flee by calamities.

“Hunger exists and this is a serious problem,” he said.

Anderson, accompanied by actress Kristina Cassandra “KC” Concepcion, visited the city and Maguindanao province on Monday to check on the progress of the WFP’s “early recovery program.”

Anderson said the WFP allocation of $26 million had been released in July yet and has been funding feeding missions aimed at the recovery of hunger-stricken people, including some 40,000 malnourished children.

Anderson said at least 70 percent of its target in the antihunger drive is in Maguindanao. It is also working to stave off hunger in Lanao, North Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat.

He said the WFP also drafted a long-term program to sustain help for people who have lost means to feed themselves.

Anderson said with Philippine government help, the WFP brought income-generating ventures like poultry, feed production, rope and fertilizer making.

Concepcion, a WFP ambassador of goodwill, said the WFP would raise more funds to fight hunger by launching a social network on October 16, which is World Food Day.

Some of the funds raised from the project, she said, would also be used to repair schools damaged by floods.

In Datu Piang, Maguindanao, children have stopped going to school after floodwaters took over classrooms, according to local education officials.

In Ozamiz City, Peace Adviser Teresita Deles urged local government units to play active roles in the peace process.

“You know best what is happening on the ground,” Deles said at a meeting of the First Mindanao Island Conference of Vice Governors of the Philippines.

She said local governments need to do “critical work” like practicing transparency and allowing people participation in decision-making.

Deles said the national government was helping rehabilitate areas wracked by conflict.

One of the programs the government would implement in relation to the peace process was Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan or Pamana.

She was vague about what Pamana aims to achieve, but said it would be implemented in at least 5,300 villages.

“The beneficiaries of peace do not have to wait for a political settlement before they can enjoy the peace,” Deles said. Charlie Señase and Ryan Rosauro Inquirer Mindanao