Reaching remote towns outside Marawi, two months on
Two months into the crisis in Marawi, adequate humanitarian aid have yet to reach families forced to flee to remote towns outside the city, especially those located around Lake Lanao.
With support from Oxfam, Cotabato-based non-governmental organisation Community Organizers Multiversity and the Marawi-based NGO Al Mujadilah Development Foundation, together with the People Coalition for ARMM Reform and Transformation (PCART) and Sindaw ko Kalilintad, distributed food relief packs with 10 kilograms of rice and canned goods to about 500 displaced families in the town of Balindong, located some 20 kilometers from Marawi City.
Photos by Angela Casauay/Oxfam
In this remote village in Balindong, Lanao del Sur, families earn a living from making palapa, a traditional Maranao appetizer made from sakurab or white scallions, ginger and chilli pepper. Their main market is Marawi City and nearby areas but the conflict has cut the economic activity in their area.
Since the armed conflict in Marawi City erupted, palapa producers like Amina Limpuan, 80, lost their market. Access to other areas beyond Marawi from their lake-side municipality has also been restricted as the conflict remains unresolved. Amina used to sell a bunch of sakurab for PHP25 to PHP35. Now, she sells them for PHP10 to PHP15 if the produce can be sold at all.
Salemah Baray, 45 (seated, right) and her sister, Hejara Baray, 46 fled to the nearby province of Balindong when the firefight started. They are now staying at the home of their mother, Sarah Saadan, 85. Salemah said, “I have five kids. We used to earn a living from our sari-sari store. Our life has been difficult for the past two months. We only survive through the help of our relatives but they are also having a hard time. Since the conflict started, the market for palapa has been cut. We are now dependent on our relatives who are also having a hard finding a source of livelihood. Aid only reached our area once since then. I want to go back to our house in Marawi so my children can continue their schooling. But I will only go back if the situation is already stable.”
When humanitarian workers reached the main highway in the town of Balindong, food relief packs had to be moved to smaller vehicles in order to reach inner villages.
When humanitarian workers reached the main highway in the town of Balindong, food relief packs had to be moved to smaller vehicles in order to reach inner villages.
Many other families who were forced to flee to areas surrounding Lake Lanao have yet to be reached by adequate aid. Access to such areas remain limited as the conflict continues.
Many other families who were forced to flee to areas surrounding Lake Lanao have yet to be reached by adequate aid. Access to such areas remain limited as the conflict continues.
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