While most Filipinos are busy preparing for the holidays, Lucia Andapes, a mother of four in the restive south, is expecting the first sad Christmas for her children.
Forced to abandon their house amid the war between government troops and separatist rebels, the family is now sheltered in a shabby gymnasium.
Living on a small amount of relief food, there is no way for the family to enjoy ham, salad, pasta, or roasted pig this Christmas.
"It would be just an ordinary day for us. We only have some cans of sardines and noodles for tonight. But I believed we can survive, and let the Christmas pass," said the 49-year-old woman in an interview.
"We had farm animals in our home in Daliao village but all (were) gone after we left at the height of the fighting," she said.
The Andapes' is only one of the thousands of families displaced by the war, starting in August as some radical members of the MoroIslamic Liberation Front (MILF) attacked towns and villages in the southern region of Mindanao.
More than half a million people have been affected by the conflict and the International Committee of the Red Cross said that the clash has reached its worst point in five years.
At least 163 people have died in the continuous clashes since Aug. 10, according to a latest report released by the government, among whom many are civilians, killed by gunshots or mortar shelling. A total of 1,850 houses have been damaged.
Grace Pano, a daughter of a couple killed by rebels in the province of North Cotabato, said there is no reason for her to feel the season of Christmas, unless there is justice for the thousands of families in Mindanao.
"The rebels killed my helpless mother, father and younger brother. I'm going to missed them all," she said.
"It would be a great gift (for) this holiday season if those responsible for the deaths will be arrested," she said.
MILF guerrillas under sub-commander Ameril Umbra Kato stormed a village in the Pikit town on Aug. 11 and killed Isidra Pano, 60; Lucio Pano 76; and their son Dulciano Pano, 37.
Manila has placed a bounty of 10 million pesos (210,000 U.S. dollars) for the arrest of Kato and has ordered the military to spare no effort in pinning him down.
The 12,000-strong MILF has been fighting for a separate Islamic state since 1978. It signed a cease-fire in 2003 with the government, but skirmishes have been going on and off along with the peace talks between the two sides.
Violence escalated in Mindanao after the Philippine Supreme Court halted the signing of a territorial pact between the government and the rebel group. Manila has suspended peace talks with the MILF and ordered a massive assault afterwards.
Source: Xinhua
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