Space and time to heal
Space and time to heal
Updated 04:51am (Mla time) Jan 19, 2005
By Rina Jimenez-David
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A13 of the January 19, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
THE LATEST news on the tsunami relief front is that officials of the United Nations have temporarily banned aid workers from traveling to certain parts of Aceh province in Indonesia, the area hardest hit by the tsunami and nearest the epicenter of the earthquake that triggered the killer tides. The travel restrictions were due to reports of renewed fighting between Indonesian government troops and separatist rebels, who have been waging a war for an independent Aceh for decades.
But rebel leader Tengku Mucksalmina told the Associated Press that aid workers had nothing to fear, dismissing government claims that insurgents might attack relief convoys to steal food for their fighters. "Our mothers, our wives, our children are victims [of] this tragedy. We would never ambush any convoy with aid for them," Mucksalmina told AP. "We want them [aid groups] to stay. We ask them not to leave the Acehnese people who are suffering."
Aid and relief efforts in Sri Lanka had also been reported
as being hampered by continued conflict between the government forces representing the majority Sinhalese population, and rebels fighting for the creation of an independent Tamil nation in the north of the island. There had been reports of Tamil raids on aid and relief convoys on the grounds that much of the relief goods were going to Sinhalese-dominated areas and none to the Tamils. On the other hand, there had also been reports that mobs of Sinhalese were blocking convoys destined for Tamil-dominated areas, insisting that they needed the relief materials more.
One would think that at a time of great emergency and urgent need, such as the post-tsunami crisis, people would set aside their political, ethnic and religious differences and concentrate instead on recovering the dead and coming to the aid of survivors. That they apparently have not done so in Sri Lanka and Indonesia is a grave disappointment. Can we do better here in the Philippines?
* * *
AS is traditional during the Christmas season, both the New People's Army and the Armed Forces of the Philippines called for unilateral ceasefires that both ended early this month.
The Philippine National Red Cross, in a statement issued last Jan. 4, called for an extension of the ceasefire in the provinces of Quezon and Aurora, the areas hardest hit by successive typhoons and mudslides late last year. "The Philippine National Red Cross and other organizations continue to conduct ongoing relief and rehabilitation operations, including health missions, in the area," the Red Cross statement said. "We estimate a necessary rehabilitation and reconstruction period of six months, especially for housing and shelter which include relocation of evacuees to safe areas. This rehabilitation work would be safeguarded, uninterrupted and facilitated were there to be an extended humanitarian ceasefire even only in at least seven municipalities (in the affected provinces ), which would allow safe, secure and unimpeded flow of rehabilitation resources and efforts."
The Red Cross calls on the Philippine government and the Armed Forces on one hand, and the National Democratic Front and the NPA on the other, "to immediately declare their respective unilateral humanitarian ceasefires or suspension of offensive military operations for six months or from January to June 2005."
Supporting this call of the Red Cross are other non-government organizations and peace groups, most notably the National Peace Conference. "In light of the great tragedy of the tsunami bringing so much death and devastation globally, and our own smaller-scale but still terrible disaster in Eastern Luzon, we need to focus on saving lives and rehabilitating communities. We ask for this 'humanitarian pause' to enable the safe conduct of critical relief and rehabilitation efforts," the NPC statement said.
* * *
AT THE SAME time, groups supporting the unilateral ceasefires also call on the government and communist rebels to "hold the soonest possible talks for a bilateral humanitarian ceasefire, to agree on mechanics, and to discuss other concrete measures of goodwill and confidence-building for the peace negotiations."
In a statement that is now making the rounds of civil society organizations for signatures, the various groups issued this appeal to both sides of the conflict: "The ceasefire should be a period of national solidarity with victims of disasters, globally as well as in the country, a time for acts of sacrifice, generosity and caring for those most vulnerable and despondent.
"We commit to such solidarity, as we resolve to pursue justice and uproot the exploitative structures that continue to devastate the Filipino people."
* * *
A CONCERT to launch the call for a humanitarian ceasefire, called "Pagbangon sa Unos-Panawagan para sa Kapayapaan" (Peace Concert for a Humanitarian Ceasefire in Calamity Areas) will be held this Saturday, Jan. 22 from 6-9 p.m. at the Conspiracy Garden Café (59 Visayas Ave., Quezon City).
Proceeds from the concert will go to a project on community debriefing for residents in Infanta, Real and General Nakar, including leaders of people's organizations, teachers and children. The project will be implemented by the Mediators Network, the Ateneo Psychology Department and the Gaston Z. Ortigas Peace Institute.
Entrance is free but donations are encouraged. Organizers are also hoping that more sponsors and donors agree to sign on and support this effort to raise public awareness of the need for a humanitarian ceasefire in our own disaster areas. As a support statement puts it: "Give the communities space and time to heal." That is all they ask, and that is the least that they deserve.
Updated 04:51am (Mla time) Jan 19, 2005
By Rina Jimenez-David
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A13 of the January 19, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
THE LATEST news on the tsunami relief front is that officials of the United Nations have temporarily banned aid workers from traveling to certain parts of Aceh province in Indonesia, the area hardest hit by the tsunami and nearest the epicenter of the earthquake that triggered the killer tides. The travel restrictions were due to reports of renewed fighting between Indonesian government troops and separatist rebels, who have been waging a war for an independent Aceh for decades.
But rebel leader Tengku Mucksalmina told the Associated Press that aid workers had nothing to fear, dismissing government claims that insurgents might attack relief convoys to steal food for their fighters. "Our mothers, our wives, our children are victims [of] this tragedy. We would never ambush any convoy with aid for them," Mucksalmina told AP. "We want them [aid groups] to stay. We ask them not to leave the Acehnese people who are suffering."
Aid and relief efforts in Sri Lanka had also been reported
as being hampered by continued conflict between the government forces representing the majority Sinhalese population, and rebels fighting for the creation of an independent Tamil nation in the north of the island. There had been reports of Tamil raids on aid and relief convoys on the grounds that much of the relief goods were going to Sinhalese-dominated areas and none to the Tamils. On the other hand, there had also been reports that mobs of Sinhalese were blocking convoys destined for Tamil-dominated areas, insisting that they needed the relief materials more.
One would think that at a time of great emergency and urgent need, such as the post-tsunami crisis, people would set aside their political, ethnic and religious differences and concentrate instead on recovering the dead and coming to the aid of survivors. That they apparently have not done so in Sri Lanka and Indonesia is a grave disappointment. Can we do better here in the Philippines?
* * *
AS is traditional during the Christmas season, both the New People's Army and the Armed Forces of the Philippines called for unilateral ceasefires that both ended early this month.
The Philippine National Red Cross, in a statement issued last Jan. 4, called for an extension of the ceasefire in the provinces of Quezon and Aurora, the areas hardest hit by successive typhoons and mudslides late last year. "The Philippine National Red Cross and other organizations continue to conduct ongoing relief and rehabilitation operations, including health missions, in the area," the Red Cross statement said. "We estimate a necessary rehabilitation and reconstruction period of six months, especially for housing and shelter which include relocation of evacuees to safe areas. This rehabilitation work would be safeguarded, uninterrupted and facilitated were there to be an extended humanitarian ceasefire even only in at least seven municipalities (in the affected provinces ), which would allow safe, secure and unimpeded flow of rehabilitation resources and efforts."
The Red Cross calls on the Philippine government and the Armed Forces on one hand, and the National Democratic Front and the NPA on the other, "to immediately declare their respective unilateral humanitarian ceasefires or suspension of offensive military operations for six months or from January to June 2005."
Supporting this call of the Red Cross are other non-government organizations and peace groups, most notably the National Peace Conference. "In light of the great tragedy of the tsunami bringing so much death and devastation globally, and our own smaller-scale but still terrible disaster in Eastern Luzon, we need to focus on saving lives and rehabilitating communities. We ask for this 'humanitarian pause' to enable the safe conduct of critical relief and rehabilitation efforts," the NPC statement said.
* * *
AT THE SAME time, groups supporting the unilateral ceasefires also call on the government and communist rebels to "hold the soonest possible talks for a bilateral humanitarian ceasefire, to agree on mechanics, and to discuss other concrete measures of goodwill and confidence-building for the peace negotiations."
In a statement that is now making the rounds of civil society organizations for signatures, the various groups issued this appeal to both sides of the conflict: "The ceasefire should be a period of national solidarity with victims of disasters, globally as well as in the country, a time for acts of sacrifice, generosity and caring for those most vulnerable and despondent.
"We commit to such solidarity, as we resolve to pursue justice and uproot the exploitative structures that continue to devastate the Filipino people."
* * *
A CONCERT to launch the call for a humanitarian ceasefire, called "Pagbangon sa Unos-Panawagan para sa Kapayapaan" (Peace Concert for a Humanitarian Ceasefire in Calamity Areas) will be held this Saturday, Jan. 22 from 6-9 p.m. at the Conspiracy Garden Café (59 Visayas Ave., Quezon City).
Proceeds from the concert will go to a project on community debriefing for residents in Infanta, Real and General Nakar, including leaders of people's organizations, teachers and children. The project will be implemented by the Mediators Network, the Ateneo Psychology Department and the Gaston Z. Ortigas Peace Institute.
Entrance is free but donations are encouraged. Organizers are also hoping that more sponsors and donors agree to sign on and support this effort to raise public awareness of the need for a humanitarian ceasefire in our own disaster areas. As a support statement puts it: "Give the communities space and time to heal." That is all they ask, and that is the least that they deserve.
posted by Dante at 4:51 AM
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