What I Saw on My Trip to the Philippines

By Tim Wallis, Executive Director

In August, I toured our field sites in Mindanao, the Philippines. The work our teams are doing there is exceptionally exciting.

Let me introduce you to Bertrand Lumaque, the mayor of Kolambugan in Mindanao. On August 18, 2008, following a breakdown in the peace talks, Mayor Lumaque’s town was attacked. Twelve civilians were killed, 14 homes burnt to the ground, 5 classrooms destroyed, and 20,000 people displaced.

NP has been working with his community ever since. On the day of my visit the NP team was training community leaders to use an Early Warning Early Response system. It could prevent another violent outbreak like the one that happened in 2008.

“It’s so important that you are here,” Mr. Lumaque told me. “We have the army, we have the police, we have vigilante groups, and plenty of weapons... But what NP is teaching these people is that they can protect themselves a lot better by knowing how to read the danger signals.”
 
Let me now introduce you to the “barangay captain” (local community leader) of Panyan, another village in Mindanao. Panyan is directly between two large military camps. These people live on the frontline of a war that has been going on for over 25 years. On March 9th, soldiers from both sides were inside the village boundary and within firing distance of each other. The entire village started packing their bags and getting ready to evacuate, expecting bloodshed at any moment.

But NP had been working in the village. Our team had already set up an Early Warning Early Response system like the one we’re setting up in Kolambugan. The NP team got a call from the Panyan barangay captain and within 30 minutes our team was in the village talking to commanders from both camps, and convincing the villagers not to leave their homes. The soldiers received instructions to withdraw.

“If not for NP’s presence, we would all have been displaced – once again,” the barangay captain said. These people have spent more time in displacement camps than in their own homes. But this time it was different, thanks to NP.

 These are just two of the many stories I could tell you from my brief visit. And stories like these could be told in every country we work in – stories of lives being saved, children being rescued, displacement being prevented, violence being averted. Thank you for making all of this possible with your generous support.