By TENG DATU
Cotabato City Bureau Chief
MARAWI City — Five more trapped civilians were able to escape to a safe zone here in the city. The civilians are all Christians and were trapped at Barangay Daguduban where they worked since the start of the conflict.
The civilians are all working as carpenters under the employment of a Maranao Muslim.
Arnold, one of the civilians reiterated that their employer let them escape and tried to talk with the Maute Group, “Nagpaiwan ang boss namin para kami ay makatakas at kausapin ang Maute, pero kinuha siya nung grupo,” he said.
The civilians also recounted their struggles in escaping the conflict area. They have to swim the Agos River to cross to the safer side of the city.
Salic Mai, a peace corridor volunteer and member of the Non-Violent Peaceforce has been coordinating with the civilians since the start of the conflict.
The peace volunteers – called the Joint Coordination, Monitoring, and Assistance Center (JCMAC) – provided guidance to the civilians on how they can safely escape the conflict area. The civilians were given directions to wave a white flag with the word ‘civilians’ written on it while they transfer to a safer place.
The JCMAC also facilitated the coordination with the Armed Forces and the National Police regarding their exact location in the conflict area, this is to spare them from military offensives against the Maute Group.
The JCMAC was able to rescue 179 trapped women, men, children and elderly during its first attempt last week.
On its second attempt last Thursday, they were able to rescue 38 more civilians to safety.
From June 11 to 12, the JCMAC were able retrieve 19 more people – making it a total of 236 saved people.
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