Cotabato City (11 October) -- A group of European Union officials led by His Excellency Ambassador Alistair McDonald, Head of Delegation of the European Commission to the Philippines were briefed Thursday on the extend of assistance provided to armed conflict victims in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and Central Mindanao.

Included in the briefing were the updates, situation reports on the flooding that hit recently ARMM, Central Mindanao and the City of Cotabato.

The Office of Civil Defense (OCD), Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao reported that the armed conflict started when the AFP launched punitive action against a group of lawless elements of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) led by MILF Commanders Umbra Kato of Maguindanao, Abdullah Macapaar, (Commander Bravo) and Alim Sulaiman Pangalian.

On August 10, 2008, the Armed Forces of the Philippine (AFP) launched an operation against the group of Kato in Northern Kabuntalan, Shariff Kabunsuan.

Succeeding military operations were launched by the AFP against the forces of MILF commanders Bravo and Pangalian of Lanao del Sur and Norte. Continued military operations against the roque elements of MILF were launched also in Datu Piang, Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Talayan and Kabuntalan, all in Maguindanao.

Aparrently, the skirmishes between some reneged elements of MILF and forces of the AFP took place in the 4 provinces of ARMM affecting 20 municipalities. Additional 3 brangays in Datu Piang, Maguindao were affected with a total record of 122 barangays affected by the armed conflict.

To date, 10 municipalities in Maguindanao province, 3 in Shariff Kabunsuan province have existing evacuation centers. The OCD-ARMM report further disclosed that due to the continued military operations against some rogue members of the MILF. the number of evacuees in the evacuation centers of the afore-mentioned areas.

The status of population in conflict-affected areas in the 4 provinces of ARMM, namely, Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Shariiff Kabunsuan and Maguindanao, to date, is 46,245 affected families or 251,225 individuals affected.

The current humanitarian situation, OCD-ARMM further reported is that peace and security in the conflict-affected areas is still very volatile, especially in the municipality of Datu Piang, Maguindanao. Number of internally-displaced persons in the said area vary from time to time as they are mobile in seeking temporary refuge. The delivery of services should be coordinated with the AFP for safety and security reasons. Mobile IDPs resulted difficulty in tracking down their exact census.

After the briefing of the AFP, OCD and DSWD, Ambassador Alistair McDonald thanked the said agencies for their reports and said, "the European Union have been wanting to help promote peace and development in Mindanao for at least 20 years. In recent years though, it becomes more and more necessary for us also to aid your people whether they are victims of man-made or natural disasters and we have been willing to do that whenever we can.

Even during the month of August when the first burst of armed conflict took and in the middle of September, the European Union issued a statement condemning the violence against civilians. He said as far as his group is concerned, they wanted the GRP and the MILF to return to the negotiating table to resume the stalled peace talks and put an end to the armed conflict going on in Mindanao.

Having heard the reports of the concerned agencies McDonald said the EU is ready to extend humanitarian help to the displaced persons affected by the armed conflict by providing a grant of 4 million Euro about 270 million pesos which will be coursed through NGOs that are of credible background. This is the most immediate help we can extend to the civilians caught up in the armed conflict.