US still not fielding Peace Corps volunteers to Mindanao

MANILA, Philippines — Even as it prepares for a new leadership under Barack Obama, the United States is still not keen on sending Peace Corps volunteers to Mindanao for security reasons. US Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Ann Kenney disclosed this as she rallied 65 new Peace Corps volunteers in the Philippines Friday to make a difference in the country. "You'll have to have some kind of a framework for a peace settlement, you'll have to have a security situation in place," she said in an interview with online news site Visayan Daily Star (www.visayandailystar.com). But Kenney said she has been to Mindanao, in fact was in Jolo recently, and wants to go back to Cotabato soon. She said the US has donated funds for Mindanao and she wants to have a look at that. "I want to look at the internally displaced people situation. I am really worried about the people who are out of their homes … their sanitation, their food," she said. The US pulled out its Peace Corps Volunteers in Mindanao at the beginning of the Iraq war in 2003 when Americans were being held hostage. But Kenney said she felt "very comfortable" having volunteers in Negros Occidental, despite the communist New People's Army (NPA)'s kidnapping of US Peace Corps volunteer Timothy Swanson in 1990. "At this time I feel very comfortable having our volunteers here and they're doing great work. They are really wonderful people," she said. Peace Corps Administrative Officer John Rekstad said there are currently 131 Peace Corps volunteers in the Philippines, including the 65 new ones in Negros. "Swearing in Peace Corps volunteers is always for us a happy moment. I always feel like I should be there," Kenney said. Of the 65 new Peace Corps volunteers sworn on Friday, Rekstad said 33 will engage in education work, 16 in children, youth and family programs, and 16 in coastal resource management. Kenney told the Peace Corps volunteers they have an amazing job ahead of them. "You have talent, compassion and are willing to give and you will give much more than you will know. You will inspire people and show people that one person can make a difference," she said. Since 1960, more than 190,000 people have served as Peace Corps volunteers in 139 countries, according to the independent US federal agency organized when John F. Kennedy was president. - GMANews.TV