Plans afoot to increase number of all-female CRC in Marawi

MANILA — Plans are afoot to increase the number of personnel serving in the joint military and police all-female civil relations company (CRC) in Marawi City, a military spokesman said.

This is because displaced people bond easily with the hijab-wearing members of the CRC, as observed by members of the local media and long-time residents of the city, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) public affairs office chief, Col. Edgard Arevalo, said Wednesday.

Some 100 members of the CRC, all enlisted personnel and officials of the AFP and the Philippine National Police (PNP), were deployed to Marawi City last Aug. 29, forming part of an inter-agency team that will help carry out rehabilitation and recovery programs for internally-displaced persons (IDPs) in the battle-stricken city.

“The CRC may also serve as a mother or elder sister figure to the evacuees, especially the youth, to help alleviate their conditions in various evacuation centers,” Arevalo added.