How promoting MDM has strengthened public trust in conflict-affected areas

 

By Halid Kamidon

[TRANSLATED AND EDITED FROM MAGUINDANAON]

Last November 2020, I joined community champions from Marawi and Maguindanao in filing draft ordinances to improve the management of the dead and missing (MDM) in our municipalities.

For those who do not know, MDM refers to practices that uphold the rights of dead and missing victims of disaster, as well as the families that they leave behind.

In Maguindanao, specifically in our communities in Datu Saudi Ampatuan, we still experience bouts of conflict while some still even remain in mourning. The filing of the draft ordinance and awareness-raising on MDM is a big help to the members of the community – the parents, siblings, and children of people who have experienced conflict or war.

The concept of MDM is still quite foreign to us, because of this, many civilians do not know what to do or where to go whenever a family member dies or goes missing after incidents of armed conflict. Many also fear that the military might arrest them if they find out that the families are looking for a relative that the military may have encountered or even just suspect to be part of an armed group.

Now, because of the MDM orientations, people are more knowledgeable on what to do whenever such an incident happens. Increased awareness on the rights of the dead and missing has also strengthened public trust in the leaders of the community and to other non-government organizations (NGO) as they now understand that there’s a regulation that helps the dead and the missing caused by war between military and other groups of armed men.

They now know who are the authorities or leaders they need to speak with from their communities. They have built trust in the government and non-government organizations. They now know where to go and what to do. The families left behind no longer fear to speak the truth and demand for the rights of their dead or missing loved ones.

Halid Kamidon is a community champion for Bring VOICE to MDM, an IDEALS Project supported by VOICE-Hivos. Bring VOICE to MDM aimed to raise awareness on the importance of MDM in times of disaster and help family members of disaster-affected areas in Mindanao lobby for local ordinances that would assist bereaved families in their recovery.