RIGHTS IN CRISIS AND EMERGENCIES
Marawi, Maguindanao conflict survivors file financial aid policy for disaster victims with deceased relatives
Maguindanao, Philippines – They spoke and they were heard.
Years after their loved ones were taken by calamities, surviving relatives of disaster and conflict victims in Marawi and Maguindanao are pushing for better measures to protect deceased disaster victims and the families they leave behind.
As the world faces the COVID-19 pandemic, survivors from Marawi, Shariff Aguak, and Datu Saudi Ampatuan met with government officials last November 18 to bring voice to victims of past crises at the Regional Conversation on Management of the Dead and Missing, a forum highlighting the rights of dead and missing disaster victims, and their bereaved relatives. Their call: stronger policies to aid grieving families and help facilitate their financial and emotional recovery post-crisis.
Jasmerah Comadug, an aspiring schoolteacher who lost her father in the Marawi Siege, was one of the volunteers at the event. “Sobrang hirap talaga nung dinaanan namin na mga pagsubok… Kung anu-ano yung papers. Di namin alam kung saan gagawin,” she recalled. In the end, they had to bury her father in their kitchen during the war.
[The challenges we faced were so difficult… There were so many papers, we didn’t know where to process them.]
Knowing that many others went through the same challenges, the experience galvanized Jasmerah to use her voice to help fellow victims of disaster. Together with two fellow champions from Maguindanao, Sarah Macabangen from Shariff Aguak and Halid Kamidon from Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Jasmerah presented ordinances they themselves drafted with volunteers to help grieving disaster victims like them.
Since last year, the three and several other volunteers have traveled around their communities to interview families of residents who died in conflict or natural calamities. These interviews were the basis for the policies and study presented to municipal, regional, and national officials at the event.
Figure. Participants and organizers of the Regional forum on Management of the dead and missing pose for a picture after the event.
Under the financial assistance policy, the draft ordinances propose P10,000 worth of assistance for each “qualified deceased civilian victim” who is a resident in any of the three areas. Alongside this, the Maguindanao ordinances also lobby for a burial site in Shariff Aguak and Datu Saudi Ampatuan for victims of human-induced and natural disasters.
The proposed MDM assistance helpdesk for Marawi, meanwhile, seeks to establish a mechanism to assist bereaved families in processing claims and other documentary requirements, in addition to helping them access psychosocial help.
Aside from victims of recent disasters, the MDM ordinances in Maguindanao seek to include victims of past conflicts– including martial law and President Joseph Estrada’s “all-out war” on the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in the 2000s– as recipients of assistance.
The ordinances have been filed at their respective municipalities, with champions optimistic that they will be passed.
“Magkahalong kaba at excitement ang aking nararamdaram… Excitement dahil sana maisabatas na ito,” said Sarah, whose grandfather passed away in Shariff Aguak decades ago in 1974 after he was shot by soldiers who had gone to their home.
[I felt both excited and nervous… Excitement because I hope the policy is enacted.]Over 1,000 people were killed in the Marawi Siege in 2017, according to the Office of Civil Defense. Based on the survey conducted by volunteers together with non-government organization Initiatives for Dialogue and Empowerment Through Alternative Legal Services, Inc. (IDEALS), there are around 114 civilians who either died or went missing due to the war.
Meanwhile, conflict monitoring organization International Alert estimates over 2,500 people have died in conflict deaths in Maguindanao from 2011 to 2018. These numbers may not include victims who went missing or whose families were not able to register the deaths of their relatives.
To residents like Sarah, the policy is a chance to give justice to these conflict victims and their families.
“Nais ko po sanang maaprobahan ito nang sa ganoon ay magkaroon ng batas at katarungan ang mga taong naging biktima nito,” she said.
[I hope the ordinance is approved so that we can have a policy that brings justice to people who are victims (of disaster).]The Regional Conversation, organized by the Initiatives for Dialogue and Empowerment Through Alternative Legal Services, Inc. (IDEALS) is part of the Bring VOICE to Management of the Dead and Missing (Bring VOICE to MDM) project, which aims to empower disaster survivors to promote the rights of the dead and missing in times of crisis, as well as the loved ones they leave behind. Bring VOICE to MDM is supported Voice Hivos.