There are 2,295 people currently at this center, who are mostly residents of nearby barangay Mampang and Arena Blanco, where the gunfights and explosions have been intermittent but unremitting. Janet Mohammad who is in charge of the food preparation committee said that the cooks, mostly women have been doing this for an entire week now on a daily basis. On regular days, you would see them in teachers’ uniform, reporting to work at about 7:00 p.m. and leaving at 9:00 p.m. But now, they have been coming in as early as 5 a.m.; some leave after suppertime at about 9:00 p.m. Some would stay overnight. Pacifico Dela Cruz, the schools administrative officer said that the evacuees started arriving Thursday last week when the standoff between the Moro National Liberation Front and government forces was at its peak. At one time, bullets would zoom past the vicinity and hit the school buildings. In spite of the risks, the school teachers have never missed a day in preparing the food. But cooking is only one of their tasks. Dela Cruz shared that in addition to the 15 teachers, 17 more volunteers composed of students and members of the school’s alumni association are also assisting the evacuees. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2013
Some of them, deputized as “peacekeepers” and armed with twoway radios are assigned to patrol the place alongside the soldiers. The volunteers work round-the-clock, who are in rotation for day and night shifts. They are always on alert since the conflict area is merely within earshot. Arturo Cabidog Jr. of the City Legal Office has been volunteering since Thursday last week. He is responsible for the arrest of two suspected MNLF men, who came to the evacuation center claiming to be evacuees. Doubting about their responses to his interview, Cabidog asked them to open their bags. He discovered suspicious documents that had orders to “inflict injury if they refused to walk.” He immediately reported his discovery to the police, who took the two to the Tetuan Police Station for questioning. Dela Cruz said that the evacuees in this center are properly taken care of. City Social Welfare personnel
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