Female officers deployed to help victims of Marawi conflict

MANILA — An all-female contingent of military and police personnel arrived in southern Philippines on Tuesday in an effort to give a “female touch” to the reconstruction and rehabilitation of war-torn Marawi City.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines public affairs office chief Colonel Edgard Arevalo said the 60 soldiers and 40 police officers will provide “psychosocial intervention” to the thousands of internally displaced persons across Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur province.

Arevalo said the officers have undergone intensive training on peace building and countering extremism before their deployment to the combat zone.

Since the war broke out on May 23, the government said at least 500,000 people have been displaced. About 800 extremist fighters, civilians, soldiers and policemen have so far been killed as troops continue to retake the rest of the city from militants allied with the Islamic State.

Lieutenant General Carlito Galvez, chief of the AFP’s Western Mindanao Comnatives Lt Gen Carlito Galvez, chief of Western Mindanao Command mand, said the female soldiers and police “will provide greatly needed support to displaced women, who, by culture and tradition, are not allowed to interact with other men.”

Galvez welcomed the uniformed women at the Laguindingan Airport in Misamis Oriental province.

He said the personnel will also assist in rehabilitation and gender and cultural sensitivities work. Some members of the team are Maranaos and Maguindanaoans, meaning from the region, he said. In fact, many of the women in camouflage uniforms were wearing white hijab.

“They are a big part of the rehabilitation, and we can see that we are nearing the end of our clearing (operations). The most important part of his crisis is recovery and rehabilitation, to bring normalcy to Marawi City,” Galvez said.

Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross announced on Wednesday that it has created a website where people separated by conflicts in Marawi can find missing relatives.

Camilla Matteucci, head of the ICRC team in the area, said there are many possible causes of separation during a conflict situation.

“People could be trapped by the fighting, detained or even killed. They could be in an evacuation center but not have the means to contact their kin,” she said.

“Our tracing website offers a platform for people to share information about their missing relatives and request our help in tracing them.”

They are a big part of the rehabilitation, and we can see that we are nearing the end of our clearing (operations).”