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Encountering the casualties of war

Amid the despair of war, Christians and Muslims have learned to help each other
Encountering the casualties of war

Archbishop Antonio J. Ledesma of Cagayan de Oro (center) leads the distribution of relief packs to families affected by the fighting in the city of Marawi in the southern Philippines. (Photo supplied)

Published: August 07, 2017 04:48 AM GMT
Updated: August 07, 2017 11:06 AM GMT

On July 31, the feast of St. Ignatius Loyola, I visited wounded soldiers at a military hospital in Cagayan de Oro City. There were more than 80 of them, with some having to lie on beds along the corridors.

One had an amputated arm, several had shrapnel wounds on different parts of the body, others had casts on their arms or legs. A number showed me near-misses of shrapnel around their eyes. Many of the wounded were lying down or seated with dextrose bottles hanging near them. The more severely wounded had already been flown to Manila.

What struck me most was the youthful demeanor of many soldiers, many in their early 20s. About a dozen soldiers had wives or relatives watching over them, some had two or three children left at home, but the majority were left alone, coming from distant provinces, including some Muslim soldiers from the town of Jolo.

As we left the hospital, two Huey helicopters from Marawi were landing, one with more wounded soldiers and the other carrying the dead. This is one face of the battle of Marawi. The most recent casualty count includes 114 soldiers killed with seven or eight times more that number wounded. Rebel casualties are reported at more than 700 killed and an indeterminate number of civilians killed or missing.

Another image of the Marawi conflict are the lines of Muslim women and children with some men, waiting to receive relief packs as their names are called by a local leader reading from a prepared list.

On July 18, I joined our relief team from the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro and St. John Vianney Theological Seminary. We distributed relief packages to 430 families in six villages in Marawi. One could see from their courteous greetings and smiles that the Muslim residents appreciated our coming because this was one area that had been reportedly neglected by aid agencies.

Some of the religious sisters with us tried to conduct a brief trauma-healing session for the children by means of some games. Occasionally, one could hear the sound of bomb explosions coming from the other side of the hills separating these villages from the fire fight zone. Some residents showed us several stray bullets that lodged in their houses.

Earlier on June 8, in the village of Opol, bordering Cagayan de Oro City, our social action team with some religious sisters and ministry co-workers distributed standard packs containing five kilograms of rice, powdered chocolate, coffee, dried fish, some canned goods and toiletries to 500 Muslim families. These were evacuee families from Marawi preferring to seek shelter with their relatives rather than staying in evacuation centers.

Indeed, government agencies report that 90 percent of Muslim internally displaced persons could be classified as home-based rather than staying in evacuation centers. In the village of Barra, the distribution of relief goods was done at the four mosques, with the help of the local imam.

In all, our social action team and volunteers distributed food and relief packs to nearly 3,400 families in 16 city parishes and villages. They were also able to bring, over the past two months, relief goods to 368 families in evacuation centers situated along the road to Marawi.

We are grateful to the many donors and partners in our relief work. In the midst of war and destruction, our relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts will continue together with many other government and non-government organizations.

This perhaps is the shining light from Marawi in the midst of gloom, that Christians and Muslims have learned to help each other (even as in some cases they have died together), and that the rebuilding of Marawi can be done with the collaboration of all sides aspiring for peace and development in Mindanao.

Archbishop Antonio J. Ledesma, SJ, heads the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro in the southern Philippines.

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