Children major casualties of war

DAVAO CITY: The governor of North Cotabato has lamented that the ongoing war in the boundary of Pikit town and Pagalugan in Maguindanao is gravely affecting the education of schoolchildren who were forced to evacuate since early this month.

In Pikit, North Cotabato, the skirmishes affected the operations of several schools, displacing 2,000 school children. In the affected areas of Pagalungan, at least 1,359 schoolchildren were also reported to have stopped attending their classes as they took shelter in the evacuation center.