An ICRC water bladder for displaced people in Pikit, North Cotabato.

Given its long-standing experience in conflict-stricken Mindanao, the organization was well prepared. “Over the past three years, we had set up water and sanitation facilities all over the island, in locations that we thought likely to receive displaced people. Indeed, those are the areas affected now,” recalls Perry Proellochs, ICRC delegate in Central Mindanao. “Thus people had access to our assistance even before we got there, and these facilities will be used in the weeks, months, and possibly years to come.”