Displaced IDPs

It was our first travel to Shariff Aguak one of the Municipality of Maguindanao to have our courtesy visit to the Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO). This is after we were restricted to travel using this route since the fighting in Maguindanao errupted. Along our way we noticed evacuation camps and groups of uniformed military men after every five hundred (500m) meters. We saw people in groups walking along the National Highway. Together with them are their belongings, children and farm animals. Many of them use their farm animals to carry loads basic stuffs like food, clothing and cooking wares and mostly are walking. We wonder where this people would go. Are they going back to their villages or to the evacuation centers?


We talked to the Administrative officer of IPHO Jamila Amba. She told us about the displacements going on. I have (Jamila Amba) experienced being held by the military for about two hours because of the on going fighting near the national highway. In one of my experience, the evacuees don’t know where to go they are really messed up. They will be in one evacuation camp for a day and gone the following day. Some host community also left their homes for unknown reason when evacuees arrived in their village. “We really have a hard time documenting the evacuees because they are very mobile” and this conflict now are very different with what we have experienced in 2000 and 2003 she said. In the previous conflict health services were easily delivered and accessed. Our Director and Rural Health Officers are now staying in the evacuation camps for monitoring and documentation. They were there day and night.