Food program scales up aid to Philippines

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 28 (UPI) -- The U.N. World Food Program said Thursday it was ramping up food assistance to the more than 220,000 people displaced by fighting in the Philippines.

The agency said it delivering nearly 1,000 metric tons of rice to civilians caught in the conflict in south Minanao between government troops and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the United Nations said in a news release.

"(The World Food Program) is responding to a request from the government to provide food assistance to meet urgent needs among the hundreds of thousands of people affected by the sudden upsurge in violence in southern Mindanao," said Stephen Anderson, the agency's Philippines country director.

Anderson said rice stocks were stored in a warehouse in Cotabato, near the affected area, and "we've acted quickly to move food out to where it is most needed."

The World Food Program so far has distributed about 650 metric tons of rice to 160,000 displaced families from Lanao del Sur, Lanao del Norte and North Cotabato. Another 250 metric tons of rice is being delivered to 60,000 people in the provinces of Maguindanao and Shariff Kabunsuan, Anderson said.