Mamasapano villagers experience trauma - DOH

MAMASAPANO, Maguindanao – Many residents of this sleepy town turned battle zone in January have experience trauma and need medical and psychological intervention, the Department of Health Thursday said. Dr. Kadil Sinolinding, regional secretary of the Department of Health in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (DOH-ARMM), led a medical mission in the village of Tukanalipao, site of bloody encounter between police Special Action Force and Moro rebels, which also affect thousands of civilians. Sinolinding’s team composed of medical personnel and nurses distributed medicine and conducted medical consultations with the displaced families. We are sending here DOH-12 personnel to conduct psycho-social counselling with the help of other government agencies,” Sinolinding told reporters at the end of the medical mission. We found out that aside from ordinary illness, many of the displaced families have been suffering emotional distress and trauma, especially elders and women,” Sinilinding said. Among them was Pahima Akmad, 29, who has four children. She is from Barangay Tukanalipao, Mamasapano. I cannot sleep well at night for fear armed men will return and war will happen again,” she said, clutching one of her daughter as she and other villagers avail of the medical services. Akmad said her 70-year-old father have suffered hypertension as a result of the armed conflict. He has blood pressure problem and he is weak,” Akmad said of her father. Early on Sunday morning, January 25, Akmad recalled he and the family were awakened by automatic gun bursts forcing them to flee with only their clothes on. They experienced a very stressful experience. Many of them lack sleeping hours for they prepare for yet another violence following the incident,” Sinolinding said. Many have experienced post-traumatic stress, our staff will attend to them to help them cope with the situation and move on,” Sinolinding said. (Ferdinandh Cabrera)