SOME 200 participants from Mindanao cities took off Friday for Cagayan de Oro for the launching of ‘Balsa Mindanao’ or Bulig Alang sa Mindanao, a relief and rehabilitation campaign led by religious, people’s organizations, and cause-oriented groups.
The group brings in this Advent season the Filipino spirit of bayanihan for the community. Deriving its name Balsa, a term for a wooden raft, to symbolize the united journey of Mindanao people to support each other in times of disaster.
Relief goods such as potable water, food packs, medicines, clothes, blankets and cooking utensils will be delivered coming from Davao City, General Santos City, North Cotabato, Zamboanga and Butuan City.
Balsa will bring relief, medical and psychosocial services to flood survivors in Cagayan de Oro on December 29 and in Iligan City on the 28th. Not only will they visit the evacuation centers, but they will go into barangays to look into the needs of the residents.
The ‘psychosocial release’ aims to unleash fears and trauma experienced by the victims. “This therapy is basically important in times of post disaster so that victims will have a better way to cope up with the trauma”, says Children Rehabilitation Center Davao Coordinator Girlie dela Cerna.
Ariel Casilao, regional coordinator of Makabayan Coalition and Convenor of Balsa, said that aside from the immediate relief services, the group “strongly urges the government to have an immediate rehabilitation plan for areas affected by the disasters.”
“This tragedy reflects how poor our government is in providing mitigating measures in time of disasters, failure of the government to address this issue would mean preparing for another tragedy to happen,” he added.
Francis Morales of Panalipdan Southern Mindanao hits logging, agri-plantations and mining companies proliferating all over Mindanao for the environmental disasters, including the flashfloods now experienced in Compostela Valley, Kapalong and Valencia, Bukidnon.
“This is a crime committed by these corporations and companies who ruined our natural resources for their gain. It’s time to tell our leaders we have enough of plundering our natural resources that victimized our communities,” Morales explained.
BALSA Mindanao is led by the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines-Northern Mindanao and Panday Bulig disaster-response NGO together with Panalipdan Mindanao, Sisters’ Association in Mindanao, Mindanao Interfaith Services Foundation Inc, Initiatives for Peace in Mindanao, Makabayan Coalition and Children’s Rehabilitation Center.
