CRS Responds to Families Displaced by Escalating Conflict in the Philippines

Catholic Relief Services
Wednesday, 23 April 2003

In response to recent conflict in the southern Philippines, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is working through local partners to expand humanitarian relief and recovery assistance to displaced populations, committing $180,704 to support the needs of at least 8,520 families (approximately 50,000 people). The agency is concentrating efforts in the impoverished province of Maguindanao in Central Mindanao, where fighting between the Philippines armed forces, or AFP, and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) – which has waged a campaign for autonomy since the 1970s – has left local populations particularly vulnerable.

"This project will provide a rapid response to the humanitarian crisis while, in the long term, helping displaced farm families sustain their livelihoods," said Doug Ryan, CRS Country Representative for the Philippines. "The approach will also create space for people to talk about the conflict in their own terms and find constructive ways to build peace."

CRS' response entails emergency food and social support services for the most vulnerable displaced families for eight weeks. Longer-term initiatives will include conflict analysis sessions with displaced families and efforts to establish "conflict-free" areas, where members of the community can meet with representatives from the local government, AFP and MILF to address concerns and peaceful solutions to the conflict. Additionally, emergency vouchers will be provided to farmers to help them rapidly recover agricultural losses sustained from the conflict.

"Beyond the immediate trauma of displacement and humanitarian need, the long-term impact of this conflict on local farmers, if it's not addressed, could be catastrophic," said Ryan. "When it's safe to go home, these families, most of whom live on poverty's edge or are in debt already, will return to trampled, ruined farmlands, many having abandoned or sold their livestock, and they will need assistance."

In Central Mindanao, 70 percent of families derive their livelihoods from agriculture, with most incurring debt at the start of each growing season. The Philippines Department of Agriculture estimates the recent troop movements and fighting has destroyed crops on more than 37,000 acres of prime agricultural land. CRS estimates economic losses in the agriculture sector could be as high as $10 million.

Since Christmas Eve 2002, the conflict has claimed at least 396 lives, wounded more than 450 people and displaced approximately 175,000 civilians. The incessant, unpredictable nature of the conflict, along with calls from the MILF leadership for armed resistance, have combined to delay the return of displaced families.

CRS has previously supported families displaced by fighting between the AFP and MILF, and continues to undertake a variety of peace building activities in the southern region of the Philippines, including peace education, inter-religious dialogue and capacity building among Muslims, Christians and tribal groups to promote trust and advocate for more just social, economic and political structures. The agency, which began working in the Philippines in 1945, has four offices throughout the country and supports a variety of programs in the areas of agriculture, peace building, micro-finance and health.

For more information, or to contact Catholic Relief Services, see their website at: www.catholicrelief.org