US pours $100,000 more for displaced people in Mindanao

MANILA - The United States will provide an additional $100,000 in relief aid to 31,000 displaced families in strife-torn Mindanao provinces, the US embassy in Manila said Friday.

The amount is in addition to the $35,000 the US Agency for International Development’s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance initially provided for the war refugees in the provinces of North Cotabato, Lanao Del Norte, Maguindanao, and Sarangani.

The US embassy placed the number of displaced people at around 200,000, as it noted the "significant deaths and injuries, and the destruction of many homes and schools" that the eruption of violence caused.

The two tranches of financial assistance were coursed through the international humanitarian group Save the Children, the embassy said in a statement.

Disgruntled rebel commanders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front have carried out attacks in the Central Mindanao provinces after the Supreme Court early this month temporarily stopped the government from signing a deal that would have expanded a Muslim autonomous region to be controlled by the secessionist group.

US Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney extended her "sincere sympathies to the affected, particularly the many families with young children whose lives have been profoundly disrupted."

"My thoughts are with those who have been displaced by fighting, people whose lives have been lost and disrupted,” she said.

“Working together, we can help Mindanao move toward peace and prosperity, so the citizens of Mindanao -- especially the children -- may have the future they deserve,” Kenney added.

(inquirer.net)