DISPLACED. Social workers from the provincial government of Lanao del Sur attend to the need of displaced families in Butig town after armed skirmishes between government forces and the Maute terror group. Photo courtesy of Jennie Tamano, Lanao del Sur PIO

LANAO DEL NORTE, Philippines – A total of 1,955 families have been displaced in Butig town in Lanao del Sur days since the armed skirmishes between government forces and the Maute terror group erupted again.

The local terror group, which has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (ISIS), occupied Butig's abandoned municipal hall and nearby buildings. It prompted a military offensive to flush them out of the town center. (READ: AFP sends elite troops to retake Lanao town from Maute)

This is the 3rd time this year that the Maute group attacked the town of Butig. They attacked first in February and then in August.

Jennie Tamano, Lanao del Sur provincial information officer, said they have listed a total of 1,955 families displaced since Saturday morning, November 26.

Tamano said they are expecting more residents to be displaced as the military continues its offensive against the local terrorist group. The military said it could take a full week to dislodge the members of the Maute group from Butig.

“We are directed by Governor Soraya Adiong to provide emergency response to the displacement,” said provincial social welfare officer Maharlanny Alonto.

Alonto said residents of the following barangays were displaced: Sandab, Pindolunan, Malungun, and Raya Timbab in Butig; Barangay Wago in Lumbayanague town; and Bayabao town.

“Schools were not spared by the ongoing battles,” Alonto said.

The government has started repacking food supplies and emergency items and is expecting that the situation would become a national concern due to the interruption of classes and displacement of residents. – Rappler.com</s>THE Mindanao Business Council Inc. (MBCI) has given its full backing to the Duterte administration’s comprehensive tax reform program, describing it as “starting point” to the attainment of the Philippines’s full economic prosperity by 2040.

Vicente Lao, MBCI chairman, said that President Duterte’s vision of significantly reducing poverty by 2022 and completely eradicating it 2040, or 24 years from now, “is a dream we share and we will commit to working towards it.”

Lao said the MBCI is one with the Department of Finance (DOF) in making the tax system simpler, fairer and more efficient, which would be achieved by the first package of reforms it had submitted to Congress last September.

This first package involves reducing personal income tax (PIT) rates, expanding the tax base and adjusting the excise taxes on petroleum products and automobiles, with certain exceptions.

In a statement, the MBCI said that, “As partners for change, we, the Mindanao Business Council, fully support the Duterte Administration’s comprehensive tax reform program (CTRP), spearheaded by DOF.”

“We believe that the program, comprising several packages beginning with the first package submitted to Congress in September 2016, will simplify and correct the inefficiency and inequity of our tax system. More importantly, we believe that the CTRP is fiscally sound, responsible, and will address the development needs of our country, which are particularly acute in Mindanao,” the MBCI said.

“The long-delayed development of Mindanao can be attained by securing peace and investing in the future, particularly rural development. These are at the heart of President Duterte’s economic policy, which we continue to support and seek to advance,” it added.

Lao said the Mindanao business community is also backing the DOF’s proposal to broaden the VAT base by reducing unnecessary exemptions and “insidious sources of revenue leakage.”

Keeping in mind the need to exercise fiscal prudence and responsibility in instituting tax policy reforms, the MBCI said it is also supporting the DOF proposal to adjust the excise taxes on automobiles and fuel.
Almost 2,000 families are displaced in Mindanao region of the Philippines due to clashes between government forces and Islamist militants.