The Mindanao Peoples Caucus (MPC) has opened its second Civilian Protection Component (CPC) all-women contingent outpost in Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte on November 15, 2010. The field office will cover the provinces of Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte.

The opening of the CPC-MPC in Kauswagan was attended by the top officials from the Office of the Presidential Advisers on the Peace Process (OPAPP), Government Peace Panel, International Monitoring Team (IMT), GRP and MILF Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH), provincial and local government units, civil society organizations, police and military, and the media.

Atty. Maryann Arnado, Secretary General of MPC, said during the opening that “the all-women contingent of MPC to the CPC is considered a breakthrough in our advocacy effort to institutionalize United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 and a golden opportunity to promote the meaningful participation of women in peace and security processes, particularly in the areas of civilian protection, human rights and relief and rehabilitation efforts.”

MPC is a member of the CPC of the Malaysian-led International Monitoring Team (IMT). The CPC has the following responsibilities of the CPC: to monitor violations of human rights against the civilians in the conflict-affected areas; to monitor the security and safety fo the civilian communities, and to monitor the needs of the internally-displaced persons (IDPs) and to facilitate “relief and rehabilitation support” in the conflict areas of Mindanao.  The CPC teams will also strengthen the linkages and sharing of information between the IMT and the peace panels.

During the opening, Kausawagan Mayor Rommel Arnado expressed his gratitude to MPC and IMT for having chosen their municipality to set up one of the CPC teams led by MPC. He also expressed that CPC-MPC and CPC-IMT can expect support from his administration since the people in the municipality and provinces also longed for a peaceful life.

The CPC-MPC field office was provided by the municipality of Kauswagan.

In October 5, 2010, the MPC launched CPC-MPC all-women contingent in Aleosan and also opened the first CPC-MPC field office at the municipality building of Aleosan provided by the mayor.

The towns of Kauswagan and Aleosan were chosen for the setting up of the CPC-MPC field offices because these were severely affected during the resurgence of clashes between the government and MILF forces after the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) was aborted.

The CPC of the IMT was agreed to be formed by the government and MILF in order to establish a functional system and effective mechanism for monitoring, verifying and reporting of the compliance and non-compliance to their commitments to the international and national humanitarian and human rights laws to take constant care to protect the civilian population and civilian properties against dangers arising in conflict areas.