MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – The number of people displaced by the armed conflict in Marawi City has climbed to 71,115 or 14,313 families, said the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Tuesday, May 30.
As of 6 am Tuesday, around 10,809 people or 2,261 families were staying in 20 evacuation centers.
Of the total displaced, around 60,306 people or 12,052 families are staying outside evacuation centers or with their relatives or friends mostly in Iligan City (3,620 persons or 724 families), Cagayan de Oro City (131 persons or 17 families), and Marawi City (56,555 persons or 11,311 families). (WATCH: How a father fled Marawi to save kids, wife in labor)
The clashes in Marawi started with a military raid on May 23 in Barangay Basak Malutlut. Clashes erupted between soldiers and terrorists from the Maute Group, driving away most of the city's residents.
Authorities said the terrorists have killed at least 19 civilians in Marawi, a mostly Muslim-populated city of 200,000 people. The dead include 3 women and a child whose bodies were found near a university. (LOOK: Marawi: Images from a ghost town)
The violence prompted President Rodrigo Duterte to declare martial law in the entire Mindanao to quell what he said was a fast-growing terror threat linked to the Islamic State (ISIS).
Relief operations
The DSWD has already provided P30,228,710 ($606,454) worth of food and non-food items – family food packs, dignity kits, and hygiene kits among others – and P55,055,000 in funds ($1.1 million) for the evacuees.
Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo flew to Cagayan de Oro City on Tuesday morning, May 30, to check on the status of relief operations for families affected by the ongoing armed conflict in Marawi City who evacuated to nearby provinces.
Taguiwalo met with Iligan City Mayor Celso Regencia together with DSWD Region Xl Director Nestor Ramos to discuss the provision of assistance to displaced families taking refuge in evacuation centers, staying with their relatives and friends, and those who were left stranded in Marawi City.
The Secretary also visited the evacuation center set up in Barangay Maria Cristina Gym and in Buru-un, Iligan to check on the condition of evacuees and to lead in the distribution of non-food items such as basins, cooking pots, and water buckets. The command center of all government agencies operating on the ongoing armed conflict is located in the city. – Rappler.com
P49.82 = $1
If you want to help internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Marawi City or if you have reports about their humanitarian needs like temporary shelter, relief goods, water, and hygiene kits, post them on the Agos map, text to 2929 (SMART and SUN), or tag MovePH on Twitter or Facebook. You may also link up with other organizations that called for donations.