ARMM gov't taps Red Cross for relief ops in drought-stricken towns

COTABATO CITY - The executive department of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) will tap the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) in its six-day relief operations for 50,000 drought-stricken households this month to avoid “political intrigues” in the wake of the present campaign period.

 

Engr. Baintan Adil Ampatuan, director of ARMM’s Regional Planning and Development Office, said the relief missions would be carried out with the help of the non-partisan PRC and the support of other non-government organizations involved in domestic peace-building programs.

 

Two ARMM component provinces, Basilan and Maguindanao, had been declared under state of calamity by the provincial boards in each area to hasten the release of calamity funds and justify emergency expenses for relief operations in drought and conflict-stricken towns.

 

READ: Women in farming towns bear brunt of El Niño

 

The ARMM will bankroll its six-day relief operations in towns most affected by the drought, which scorched vast swaths of rice and corn farms in the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, and Basilan.

 

Ampatuan said the relief operations will be initiated from between April 19 to 21 and from April 28 to 30.

 

Lawyer Laisa Alamia, ARMM’s executive secretary, said different agencies of the regional government will cooperate in initiating the relief missions.

 

ARMM’s Humanitarian Emergency Assistance and Response Team (HEART) will lead the six-day operations, under PRC’s ministerial control, to be assisted by the Health, Agriculture, and Social Welfare departments in the region.

 

“The Philippine Red Cross shall be requested to take the lead in this operation,” Alamia said.

 

Alamia said the relief missions would focus on providing beneficiaries with food, water, medicines, and agricultural inputs.

 

Officials of the ARMM’s Department of Agriculture and Fisheries said they would distribute seeds of drought-tolerant crops, such as watermelon, to farmers during the relief operations.

 

A matrix obtained from the HEART indicated that 10 of Maguindanao’s 36 towns were badly affected by the drought.

 

Thousands of ethnic Maguindanaon villagers were displaced by hostilities between the military and the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters in Datu Salibo town southwest of the province from late January to early March.

 

RELATED: ARMM seeks emergency funds as drought hits 84 cities, towns

 

In Lanao del Sur, 27 of the 39 towns in the province were also affected by the dry spell, according to reports collected by the HEART from local government units there.

 

Five of the 11 towns in Tawi-Tawi had also been ravaged by the drought, according to HEART.

 

In Basilan, farmers in nine of the 11 towns in the province also reported having incurred heavy crop losses due to the drought.