February 28, 2001, INQ7, Poll ban delays return of Mindanao evacuees,

February 28, 2001, INQ7, Poll ban delays return of Mindanao evacuees,

DAVAO CITY -- The election ban on government infrastructure projects may further delay the return of thousands of evacuees displaced by the war in Central Mindanao and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Undersecretary Jesus Dureza said the construction of core shelter units for the evacuees would be shelved until the Commission on Elections issues an exemption to the ban.

Dureza, chair of the government panel in the peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, said the government was planning to build about 2,000 core shelter units and repair about 8,000 houses damaged during the war.

Most of the evacuees have been staying in the evacuation centers for eight months since they fled their villages at the height of then President Joseph Estrada’s all-out war campaign against the MILF last year.

Dureza said the housing projects would cost about P120 million.

"The problem is the election period. We cannot make immediate fund releases during the campaign period. Maybe we will ask the Comelec for exemptions," he said.

The Estrada administration released in December last year some P66 million to the mayors of war-torn towns for the construction of the core shelters, Dureza said.

But most of the projects are not finished and could be left as such as the mayors busy themselves during the election campaign that starts Thursday.

Dureza said several evacuees had decided against returning to their villages until their houses are constructed or repaired.

Despite the government’s declaration to suspend military offensives, several evacuees refuse to return to their homes as some villages are still occupied, either by soldiers or MILF guerrillas.

As of Feb. 21, there were 14,021 families or 75,773 persons still staying in 76 evacuation centers, records from the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Presidential Assistant for Regional Concerns Office (Pareco) indicated.

The evacuation centers are found in Matanog, Sultan Kudarat, Parang, Pagalungan, Barira, Pagagawan, Buluan, Pendatun, North Upi, South Upi Datu Paglas and Shariff Aguak towns, all of Maguindanao.

Dureza said the government was still finalizing its survey on the remaining evacuees in Lanao del Sur.

The DSWD and Pareco also recorded that 18,247 families or 44,201 persons remained in 49 evacuation centers in the towns of Kabacan, Matalam, Carmen, Aleosan and Pikit in North Cotabato.

Another 686 families or 2,268 persons are in evacuation centers in Marawi City.

"Do not expect dramatic exodus of evacuees back to their homes. We are still rebuilding the trust of the people," he said.

Another problem confronting the government, he said, was how to reach about 2,000 families who evacuated deep into the Liguasan Marsh for fear of being caught in the crossfire should they run to the evacuation centers.

Dureza said the Liguasan evacuees had not received any assistance from the government. 
-- Jowel F. Canuday, PDI Mindanao Bureau