By: Doi Flordeliz
Cagayan de Oro City, is quiet grateful that its terrains is not that near Lanao del Norte. The insurgency brought by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front or the MILF militia claimed innocent lives in Lanao del Norte and Southern Mindanao. Last week in our photography class we were tasked to do the photo essay and my topic is about the evacuees from Lanao del Norte that fled to my home town, Iligan City. I went there last Sunday, and I arranged with some friends from the DSWD in Iligan my visit to the evacuation center but I was lucky that they went with me and some Military men as my escort but in shock we used the armored military tank going to that remote area in Iligan. I just can’t remember how much time it took us to reach the area, but I was pretty excited and I have with me two packs of candies that I will give to children. We arrived there at exactly 2:00 P.M I’m so excited to jump out from the Military Tank, but the soldiers did not allow me because they will clear the area first. After 15 minutes of waiting finally they gave us the signal to go down and 4 soldiers were my close in guards.
The DSWD workers introduced me to the people there and I just smiled and I really don’t know what to do and I quiet clueless. But then I need to go out from my shell and converse with them, my plan is just to take pictures from them and have it in my photo essay but since I was there I thought about knowing there real feeling about the insurgency. They were hesitant and shy but one woman stood up and is willing to converse with me. She is Habiba Maoday, an Islamic Studies student, a resident of Kauswagan, Lano del Norte. She relayed their story to me, that in the dawn of that insurgency they heard gun shots and saw that the towns proper of Kauswagan burning like hell. They knew then that it was the MILF troops, fortunately they are 4 kilometers away from the town proper and they are located in the hill so they have a view on the town. At 6:00 A.M they evacuated their homes instead of going down to the town proper then to the town of Linamon and then Iligan City, the en route to the mountains of Kauswagan, crossed rivers and mountain trial for 4 hours carrying heavy loads of clothes and some household things they arrived in Linamon, where trucks are waiting and took them to Upper Hinaplanon a barangay in Iligan City.
Where the International Red Cross, government and some NGO’s are helping them. Providing them with food, water and some clothing. When I was there I wondered if they can still sleep there, because they were just at the cold floor with no electricity and just a banig, blanket and pillow. But Habiba told me that its better there compared to their fears in Kauswagan. They were 28 Muslim families in that evacuation center and lucky they are because it is an Islamic school.
Watch out for the continuation of this blog story and actual photographs next week.
Watch out for the continuation of this blog story and actual photographs next week.
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