Recognizing the plight of the most vulnerable families in Marawi City, the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) will be providing food baskets to hundreds of conflict-affected households.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Senator Richard Gordon confirmed this after the PRC has partnered with King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) to secure the said food baskets.
PRC said that for the duration of the project, a total of 5,000 food baskets will be distributed to 1,000 conflict-affected households in Marawi.
These are families in the evacuation centers, bunkhouses, makeshift houses, and classrooms who have received “little to no food support” since 2017, when fighting between government forces and militants displaced the residents of the city.
PRC said that the humanitarian relief bags - which will be given in three cycles - contain certified Halal groceries, two 25kg-sacks of rice, and a supplementary package for Ramadan.
Meanwhile, Gordon emphasized the need to continuously provide humanitarian assistance to displaced families - especially those who face higher risks and suffer from the lack of services in transitory sites.
“I am always glad to be of service to our people who are in need, but my heart also aches because almost four years later, the rehabilitation of Marawi is still far from over,” Gordon said.
By getting support, Gordon said the PRC can “actually help the people of Marawi in the manner not of alms-giving, but of uplifting their hearts and giving them hope.”
The latest PRC-KSrelief project, led by KSrelief Project Manager Abdulrhman Alzaben, is one of the 40 humanitarian projects that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has supported in the last decade, amounting to more than 45 million US dollars.
Gordon called KSrelief as PRC’s “special friends.”
In December 2017, the Provincial Government of Lanao del Sur recognized the PRC as one of the first to provide humanitarian assistance to Marawi armed conflict-affected communities.
During the five-month long clash, PRC volunteers and staff responded to give immediate first aid, welfare, relief, and hygiene services to both parties of the fighting and to the civilians.
Gordon said that PRC continues to provide food, water, and healthcare services to ensure the health of the families who are still in temporary shelters four years after the hostilities.