Child warriors being prepared to fight nature’s wrath
(Last of a series)
COTABATO CITY—Communities rising from the ruins of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) wars are preparing children to cope with a new type of violence, not from the fury of man but from rough weather.
Dealing with unusually heavy rain, flooding, landslides and drought has become a major concern.
Badly affected in the environmental upheavals are children of families residing in the coastal areas of Cotabato, Iligan and Zamboanga cities.
Maguindanaon farmers in Cotabato’s riverside villages are frequently affected by flooding.
“They used to harvest crops three times a year but could now only manage once a year,” said Dennis Rev Vigo, a project coordinator of the humanitarian agency Community and Family Services International (CFSI).
In Iligan, Higaunons in the upland Barangay Rogongon farm abaca and banana, but the area is prone to landslides. Urban-based Sama Bajaus in Tambacan rely on vending and crafts, while those in Zamboanga’s Kasanyangan and Arena Blanco depend on fishing and seaweed farming, both threatened by changing sea conditions.
Awareness campaigns
Last November, CFSI launched its Children for Climate Action Project, with funding from the European Union.
The project is being coordinated with education officials and will initially cover 2,600 beneficiaries aged 10 to 24 and youth groups whose families are cultivating rice and corn in marshlands that are prone to flooding.
Also enlisted in the effort are personnel of local governments, 100 teachers and 60 health service workers.
Awareness campaigns on food security and nutrition target the communities, said Abdul Latiff, CFSI’s Cotabato-based coordinator.
Discussions are being held to include environmental concerns in the education curriculum, beginning at Grade 4.
In the communications program, groups of writers are drafting comic books, handbooks and flyers for distribution to the municipalities. Radio stations are also enlisted in the initiative, along with their extensive social media platforms.
The digital age has reached rural areas. Even children have cell phones.
Vigo, 31, is directing the campaign from Iligan. He has been exposed to work in areas ruined in the vigilante and separatist wars.
Crusading journalists
Vigo’s parents—George and Maricel—were crusading journalists against corruption and passionate humanitarian workers involved in the rehabilitation of the internally displaced.
Because of their work, they were subjected to harassment. A newspaper the couple founded was burned to the ground in an arson attack in 2000.
On June 19, 2006, while on their way home in Kidapawan from the market, the couple were shot dead by two gunmen riding in tandem—a fate all too familiar in this nation described by the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders as one of the world’s deadliest places for journalists.
The police authorities told a New York Times reporter the assailants were members of the communist New People’s Army sent to hunt down the Vigos for allegedly spying for the military.
Full-circle moment
The government had unleashed the communist guerrillas in a purported move to curb a growing Muslim insurgency amid the vigilante wars between the Ilagas and the Blackshirts.
After pursuing community development studies, Vigo joined CFSI.
“This was a full-circle moment for me, given that my first exposure to humanitarian work was when my father brought me to an indigenous community.
“I feel overwhelming fulfillment in helping others and making a difference in marginalized communities. I hope that I can be an instrument to empower our youth and help them overcome challenges brought by violence in their lives, including those caused by climate change.”
(The writer is a former reporter and aid worker who has worked in Asia, Africa, the Balkans and the Middle East)
