Down in the Flood

Major floods have displaced over 109,000 in the southern Philippines, reports the Manila Bulletin (MN), sending victims fleeing to already crowded evacuation centers.  

The centers were set up last year to allow villagers to escape the fighting between government forces and the rebel MILFS (not that kind of MILF -- see previous post).  Now government and aid workers cannot delineate between those fleeing floods and those fleeing violence.  

Though the government had previously declared the fighting had calmed some time ago, many were hesitant to leave the evacuation centers where three daily meals were a guarantee.  Now, many of those in the center have no homes to go to after floods severely damaged them.

Resultant landslides wiped out highway routes, "leaving thousands of commuters and more than 100 public and private vehicles stranded yesterday," reports MN.  

MILF

Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia have tightened international security across their borders following a rise in violence on Mindonao, a small Philippine island, threatening US-lead peace efforts in the region.

The violence is part of a continuing fallout between the majority-Christian Philippine government and a Muslim separatist group, whose truce collapsed this past August. The group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (or MILF -- I kid you not), has waged a decades-long war for autonomy and an independent Muslim state.

US led efforts at a sustainable peace seemed fruitful as plans were hatched for an independent Moro state when the Philippine government rejected the plans last August, paving the way for more MILF-led violence that has escalated since November.

The Philippine government is looking to Qatar to help with peace negotiations after Malaysia pulled out. Until then, says a resident of the island, "fear and loathing is expected to dominate life in the south, with many bracing for the worst."