400 residents flee from Lanao del Norte attacks

MANILA, Philippines – Some 400 residents from conflict-ridden areas in Lanao del Norte have fled by boat to Ozamiz City in Misamis Occidental, a radio report said on Monday. According to the report, Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) Secretary-General Corazon Alma de Leon said the evacuees came from Linamon, Kauswagan, Bacolod, Maigo, and Kolambugan towns in Lanao del Norte. They are staying at five evacuation centers in the following areas in Ozamiz City: Barangay Maningcol, San Antonio Elementary School, Catadman Elementary School, Baybay, Elementary School, and Carmen Elementary School. The PNRC has sent medicine and packets of blood to the conflict-ridden province, where at least eight civilians were reported killed by what local officials suspect as members of a breakaway faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). According to Kolambugan Mayor Bertrand Lumaque, the military could not move in because the MILF were holding some residents hostage. In nearby Sarangani provicne, two civilians were killed in when suspected MILF rebels attacked a pawnshop and a drugstore in the center of Maasim town. In a statement read over national television, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo condemned the attacks. "Because of these sneaky and treacherous attacks, as your commander-in-chief, I have ordered the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police to defend every inch of Philippine territory against MILF forces, and immediately restore peace in the affected areas in Lanao del Norte," the President said. "We will not tolerate and will crush any attempt to disturb peace and development in Mindanao," she added. She said she would call for an emergency meeting of the National Security Council on Monday afternoon to assess the situation in Lanao del Norte and other areas in Mindanao. - GMANews.TV