{"id":111497,"date":"2017-08-11T04:38:37","date_gmt":"2017-08-11T08:38:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=111497"},"modified":"2017-08-11T04:38:37","modified_gmt":"2017-08-11T08:38:37","slug":"govt-to-focus-on-human-side-of-marawi-rehab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2017\/08\/11\/govt-to-focus-on-human-side-of-marawi-rehab\/","title":{"rendered":"Gov\u2019t to focus on ‘human side’ of Marawi rehab"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Purisima<\/a>
Purisima clarified that although they do not consider the mental health situation among IDPs as alarming, they are nevertheless prepared to go beyond the basic services and intensify their response for more serious mental health cases. (pna photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA, Aug. 11<\/strong>\u2014\u00a0The government task force mandated to spearhead the reconstruction and recovery of Marawi assured the public of its unremitting efforts to address the \u201chuman side\u201d of the city\u2019s post-conflict rehabilitation phase.<\/p>\n

In a press briefing in Malaca\u00f1an on Friday, Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Assistant Secretary Kristoffer James Purisima stressed that the government is taking a more \u201cproactive approach\u201d to rehabilitate communities affected by the ongoing rebellion in Mindanao.<\/p>\n

He said Task Force Bangon\u00a0Marawi\u00a0remains focused on promptly responding to the needs of internally displaced persons (IDPs) currently staying in evacuation centers and even those who are home-based.<\/p>\n

\u201cRemember our stance, whenever there are disasters, whether natural or man-made, proactive\u00a0tayo. We do not wait to respond. We prepare in order to prevent anything from escalating,\u201d Purisima said.<\/p>\n

Purisima said that on top of the physical aspects of the city’s reconstruction, the government will do all it can to provide the mental health and psychosocial services that the IDPs need.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlam\u00a0naman\u00a0natin\u00a0na\u00a0dahil\u00a0matagal\u00a0na\u00a0ang\u00a0ating\u00a0mga\u00a0kababayan\u00a0sa\u00a0evacuation centers,\u00a0syempre\u00a0meron\u00a0din\u00a0silang\u00a0mga\u00a0nararamdaman\u2026 I\u2019d like to believe that is part of our psychosocial intervention\u2026 to understand what they\u2019re feeling,\u201d Purisima noted.<\/p>\n

\u201cKasama \u2018yan\u00a0doon\u00a0sa\u00a0sinabi\u00a0ko\u2026\u00a0na\u00a0‘human side’ ng\u00a0ating\u00a0Post-Conflict Needs Assessment.\u00a0Kasi\u00a0we\u2019re not just rebuilding a city. We\u2019re rebuilding the lives of people and communities,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

To date, Purisima said around 30,000 displaced Filipinos have availed of the government\u2019s mental health and psychosocial services, which include psychosocial first aid, stress debriefing, and psychiatric treatments to varying age groups.<\/p>\n

Purisima clarified that although they do not consider the mental health situation among IDPs as alarming, they are nevertheless prepared to go beyond the basic services and intensify their response for more serious mental health cases.<\/p>\n

\u201cI should note that there are a few recorded cases of mental issues. But these were addressed by DOH (Department of Health)\u2026 And if there are documented cases, we will respond accordingly,\u201d he assured.<\/p>\n

\u201cKung may\u00a0kailangan\u00a0na\u00a0heightened or elevated level of response or intervention,\u00a0ibibigay\u00a0natin\u00a0\u2018yun. Kung\u00a0kailangan\u00a0ng most basic,\u00a0ibibigay\u00a0rin\u00a0natin\u00a0\u2018yun\u2026 All I can assure the people is that we are providing everything we can for our IDPs on the ground,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Purisima said the Singapore Ministry of Defense handed over relief items and equipment for IDPs from Marawi and other affected localities.<\/p>\n

Purisima said the Singapore Air Force facilitated the transport of relief items last Monday, August 7, at Laguindingan Airport. The items were immediately transported to Iligan City for eventual distribution.<\/p>\n

As for the ASEAN relief distribution, Purisima said a total of 360 personal hygiene kits and one water filtration unit were distributed to the IDPs in evacuation centers located in Iligan city, while a total of 1,655 personal hygiene kits, 432 family kits, and 432 kitchen sets were provided for the home-based IDPs.<\/p>\n

For his part, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla clarified that incentives for reports and information provided by civilians and other partners that will lead to the neutralization or the arrest of any member of the NPA, particularly in the island of Negros, was an initiative on the part of the local government.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do welcome this initiative on the part of the local government, particularly in Negros. Because we know that they are already fed up with the abuses that are being committed and the violent activities that are being done by this armed group, which has degenerated into a bandit group, primarily concentrating on extortion and arson,\u201d Padilla said.<\/p>\n

Padilla expressed hopes that the initiative on providing incentives for the capture of NPAs will be replicated in other areas that are facing similar problems.<\/p>\n

Padilla also gave assurance that this will not lead to money-making activities by bounty hunters.<\/p>\n

\u201cPayments are not given unless the information provided was proven to have been accurate and it led to the arrest or neutralization of a known suspect,\u201d Padilla explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo if these people have arrest orders that have been issued already to them and have been identified and seen somewhere and were reported and led to their arrest, then the bounty will be provided,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA, Aug. 11\u2014\u00a0The government task force mandated to spearhead the reconstruction and recovery of Marawi assured the public of its …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":111498,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[21023,21060,21061],"class_list":["post-111497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news-ph","tag-marawi-rehab","tag-office-of-civil-defense-ocd-assistant-secretary-kristoffer-james-purisima","tag-reconstruction-and-recovery-of-marawi","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111497"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111497\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}