OCD sets up Iligan command center for Marawi refugees
The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) has put up a crisis command center in Iligan City through which relief goods and medical services will reach families affected by the armed conflict in Marawi City and other parts of Mindanao. JOHN UNSON/File
MANILA, Philippines - The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) has put up a crisis command center in Iligan City through which relief goods and medical services will reach families affected by the armed conflict in Marawi City and other parts of Mindanao.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) formed the Inter-Agency Regional Command and Coordination? Center for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and Region X to centralize the provision of assistance to residents.
The OCD said the command and coordination center would be managed by inter-agency focal persons from response clusters in the area.
Leni to visit displaced residents
Last Friday, the Office of the Vice President in partnership with Xavier University, another Angat Buhay partner, set up a command center in Cagayan de Oro City.
“Their students are our volunteers who help in repacking food items,” Vice President Leni Robredo said.
Robredo said they received several donations, including blankets and food, from private individuals.
The Vice President will also visit Iligan City, Lanao del Norte today to personally check on the condition of Marawi City residents displaced by the days-long firefight between government forces and Maute terror group.
Marawi City is one of the partner local government units of the Office of the Vice President’s Angat Buhay program.
The OVP has allocated P2.7 million worth of relief assistance for about 5,000 displaced families.
Robredo continued to appeal to the private sector for donation.
The Vice President also called on the public to avoid posting or sharing fake information about the situation in Marawi City in social media so as not to compromise operational security there.
“If we want to help let’s not spread fake news because this only helps our enemies,” she said.
Last May 23, a firefight erupted between government troops and members of the Maute group, forcing thousands of civilians to evacuate in temporary shelters in the cities of Iligan and Cagayan de Oro.
President Duterte declared martial law in Mindanao last Tuesday in a bid to quell the terrorists, who he said planned to establish an Islamic State province in Mindanao.
– With Helen Flores
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