Muslim OSYs tapped to assist evacuees

MARAWI CITY — The government will mobilize Muslim out-of-school youths to do civic work and assist in attending to the needs of evacuees in Lanao del Sur communities rocked by hostilities between military and Moro separatist forces.

Lanao del Sur Vice Gov. Mapupuno Datu-Ramos said a representative of the Department of Labor and Employment in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (DOLE-ARMM) has asked his office to initially mobilize at least 500 out-of-school youths to do civic work in the conflict-stricken villages.

Ramos said youths aged 15 to 24 will be screened without the intervention of politicians who might use the program for their personal motives.

These youths must work in their respective towns, he added.

He said at least 50 percent of the 21 towns in the province’s second district are affected by skirmishes between government troops and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels.

He identified these towns as Butig, Madamba, Madalum, Lumbatan, Balabagan, Poona-piagapo, Pualas, Ganasi, Kapatagan, Calanugas and Malabang.

The DOLE-ARMM program will give youths in the affected towns the chance to be productive as well as earn at least a P1,000 honorarium per month.

Those accepted will be presented to President Arroyo when she visits the province on Saturday.

The DOLE-ARMM is targeting some 1,000 out-of-school youths under the program. About 500 of them will be recruited later, it said.

Meanwhile, alarmed over the increasing number of evacuees, the Lanao del Sur government, in a resolution, has sought for a halt to the hostilities and for the Arroyo administration to pursue peace with the MILF.

"This is a no-win situation and the cost of waging the war will be better put to use in alleviating poverty in Lanao del Sur instead," Ramos said.

Ramos said the number of evacuees is estimated to have reached about 30,000.