Sarah, 61, discovered her interest in sewing at the age of nine with the inspiration and guidance of her skilled dressmaker mother. In a family of eight in Datu Abdullah Sangki (DAS), Maguindanao, Sarah and her mother are the only ones who love tailoring. “When I was in Grade 3, my mom encouraged me to […]

Under the scorching heat, a lady holding a megaphone with a loudspeaker beside her goes around Datu Abdullah Sangki (DAS), Maguindanao in a tricycle. The lady informs the residents of the importance of face masks, face shields, proper handwashing, and social distancing to prevent the spread of COVID-19. She also plays the rekorida, a mobile […]

Johnny and Juanita Paz, a couple, carry the deeply rooted Filipino tradition of respect for older people. So, they decided to take care of not one but two sick elderly, both parents of Juanita, in a small house in Datu Abdullah Sangki, Maguindanao. “My mother-in-law, 87, who is bedridden, was rushed to the hospital last […]

Blog post by April Ann Abello-Bulanadi Senior Officer for Media and Digital Influencing  More from April Ann Abello-Bulanadi With or without emergencies, Noraida Abo seldom stays at the office of the United Youth of the Philippines-Women (UnYPhil-Women), a local women’s rights organization she currently heads in the southern region of the Philippines.  She prefers the outdoors where she experiences first hand the complex realities of the Bangsamoro people in Mindanao.  The Bangsamoro have been experiencing armed conflict for more than five decades now. Noraida personally witnessed this throughout her 48 years of […]

Blog post by Oxfam PilipinasMore from Oxfam Pilipinas May 26 was the day Farhana* didn’t have the slightest hint of a choice. As she faced a band of militants who didn’t budge as they aimed their firearms at her unless she leaves her house, she saw soldiers on the other end of the road pressing her […]

Civil society organizations in Mindanao under the Bangsamoro Platform for Unity, Solidarity and Harmony (BM-PUSH) on Tuesday, July 18, declared support for the new Bangsamoro Basic Law submitted by the expanded Bangsamoro Transition Commission to President Rodrigo Duterte, noting that ensuring lasting peace in Mindanao goes beyond the conflict in Marawi. The groups signed a […]

As the crisis in Marawi City enters its fifth week, there are concerns that the situation could become protracted, with no immediate indication on when evacuees could return to their homes. The number of evacuees continue to increase as neighboring municipalities affected by the ongoing offensives have also sought shelter and livelihood options elsewhere.  One month on, here’s […]

Wednesday, June 21, 2017 Moros from different parts of the southern Philippines held a simultaneous tarawee for Marawi on Tuesday, June 20, marking World Refugee Day. The tarawee is special prayer recited before midnight during Ramadan. In the final, holiest days of Ramadan, the Al Mujadilah Development Foundation, a Marawi-based nongovernmental organization composed mostly of Muslim […]

As the humanitarian situation in the southern city of Marawi enters its second week, over 90% of people in Marawi City have been forced to flee to neighboring areas while hundreds remain trapped in the city proper. Marawi City has a predominantly Muslim population of about 200,000 people.  Assessments conducted by the Humanitarian Response Consortium […]

Some 224,000 people have been displaced or are at risk of being displaced from their homes due to ongoing conflict and natural hazards in parts of Mindanao, data from the UNHCR-led Mindanao Protection Cluster as of January 2017 showed. In recent months, ongoing military offensives against the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and the Maute […]