The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) continues to provide relief assistance to families in Butig, Lanao del Sur displaced by armed conflict between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Maute Group, a local terror group which has pledged alliance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
According to the latest report by the DSWD Disaster Response Operations Monitoring and Information Center (DROMIC), a total of 2,894 families or 14,470 persons have been displaced in eight barangays in Butig since the clash between government troops and the Maute Group started on November 26.
Of this number, 627 families or 3,135 individuals are currently taking refuge in four evacuation centers located in Butig proper and at Barangays Bayabao and Madrasah Raya Timbab, while 2,035 families or 10,175 persons are staying with their relatives and friends.
DSWD Secretary Judy Taguiwalo said that to ensure prompt delivery of aid to the affected families, the DSWD-Field Office (FO) XII has activated its operations center in Marawi City with the prepositioning of 500 bags of rice amounting to R625,000 to be given to the evacuees.
Today, 02 December 2016, DSWD-FO XII is set to provide 10 kilos of rice to each of the affected families.
Also, DSWD-FO XII staff met with local officials of Marawi City about the participation of the villagers in the repacking of relief goods.
“It is important to ensure that families caught in the crossfire are still able to meet their basic needs especially for food. They were forced to abandon their regular sources of livelihood, and they now face a situation full of uncertainty,” said Taguiwalo.