KABACAN, NORTH COTABATO (August 5)–– About 955 families are now displaced in the ongoing fight between the government forces and members of the Islamic State-inspired Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in the villages of Pikit, North Cotabato which started on July 25.
Residents were forced to leave their villages on July 25 when the military launched the operation against the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and ISIS groups in Barangay Dasawao, Shariff Saydona Mustapha town in Maguindanao.
The internally displaced persons are from the villages of Butilen, Barangay Kabasalan; Barangay Darampowa, Sultan Sa Barongis, Maguindanao; Barangay Dasawao, Shariff Saidona, Maguindanao and Sitio Mapagkaya in Pikit.
They are now staying in Barangays Makasendeg, Paidu Pulangi and Kabasalan, all in the municipality of Pikit.
Pikit municipal disaster risk and reduction officer Tāhirā Kalantungan said, families are from different places of town and dependents estimated 4,000 people.
Kalantungan Added, local government has already sent help to the families affected by the said operation and calling to those who would like to reach out to help, they are strongly in contact with their office.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has vowed “to secure the coveted peace and development in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM)” while its security operation against the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) is still going on.
Lieutenant Colonel Roberto A. Breboneria, the spokesman of the Philippine Army’s 6th Infantry Division based in Awang, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao, said “As of now, the Law Enforcement Security Operation is still in progress to sustain our campaign to defeat the local terrorist groups (LTGs),” Breboneria said.
The army, he said “continuously engage with local leaders and the community in order to secure the coveted peace and development in the BARMM.”
As initial assistance, the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office (MSWDO) and the MDRRMO of Pikit distributed on Monday five kilograms of rice to each family of IDPs in Sitios Tuka and Leong in Barangay Makasendeg in Pikit municipality. Earlier, the Pikit MSWDO and MDRRMO served five kilograms of rice to each of the 30 house-based IDP families in Barangay Paidu Pulangi. This was disclosed by Tahira Kalantungan, the MDRRM Officer of the municipality of Pikit. – Taher G. Solaiman/NewsLine.ph
