The Mindanao IDP’s: The Living Casualties of a Weary War

The attack occurred in the middle of dinner.

When we first arrived in the war-torn region of Mindanao, a Philippine island which has endured over thirty years of violent conflict, I was not at all sure what awaited us. A photojournalist

(http://benjaminrasmussen.com/Photo/Index.html) and I flew down to the volatile region of Datu Piang to capture the suffering and hardships of the tens of thousands of evacuees who have fled their homes due to the battles ensuing in their rice fields and backyards.

Upon arriving, the situation was strained. The MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front) had bombed a bridge that morning and military blockades were turning away vehicles constantly. Due to the imposed media blackout, our escort carried us through the checkpoints by introducing us to the soldiers as “Father Ben” and “Father Chris”.

Much of our work was done within the evacuation camps, shelters teeming with tattered blue-tarped tents, slick mud, and small swarming children. Some of what families endured was unbelievable: howitzer shells exploding 30 meters from their homes, their houses being lit on fire to “teach a lesson to the community. However, it was the presence of deep-seated fear and the unknown for the future that struck me as incredibly profound. For many, their life’s priorities had been whittled down to simply finding a way to provide rice for their families’ next meal. With the military blockades turning away the majority of aid convoys, many had gone for months without food or medical aid.

We were in the middle of supper when the piercing sound of RPG’s and the crackling of assault rifles pierced through the tranquility of the evening. The attack occurred approximately 2 km. from where we were staying; like a small town parade, all the neighbors lined the sides of the streets in order to get a better view of the ongoing attack. Luckily, no civilians were injured that night, although we did find bloodstains in the Muslim cemetery the next day, the position the MILF attacked from.

It was an evocative week for me- I was able to experience the frustration and emptiness of the situation firsthand, meeting many incredible individuals along the way. One man in particular stood out: his name was Yul and had volunteered for the last ten year serving with a local NGO called Bantay Ceasefire, an organization dedicated to doing whatever is possibly in their means to prevent blood from spilling on Mindanao soil due to the conflict. He was a schoolteacher but as he states it, “Everyone has stake in this war. If you are not voicing out against it, you are allowing it to occur.”

The article I am writing will be finished and possibly in print within the coming month. I will try to send out a link to those of you who are interested in checking it out through this blog. Here are some images I took during the the trip: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrismart28/show/