Lara Croft's Adventure in Sumilao

Filipino Farmers to Angie: We Need You!

by Josh Grossberg
Mon, 10 Dec 2007 10:48:51 AM PST

A group of farmers is appealing to Angelina Jolie's mighty heart.

The leftist group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (the Movement of Farmers in the Philippines) has petitioned the United Nations to send its most famous goodwill ambassador to visit the country to survey the plight of refugees displaced from their homes following decades of insurgencies. In a letter to the the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees—which routinely dispatches Jolie to refugee camps around the globe—the agrarian group says her presence will highlight the struggles of civilians caught in the crossfire. More than 160,000 Filipinos have been killed and more than 2 million have been left homeless by twin uprisings that have pitted the Philippine army against communist fighters and Muslim separatists since the late 1960s. The farmers' leader, Willy Marbella, told reporters on Friday that Jolie could refocus the world's attention on their troubles, especially amid the army's renewed attempt to rid the countryside of guerrillas. "Since June 2005, we have been asking the chair of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, to look into this and send Angelina Jolie to see the real situation of internally displaced people in the country. Hundreds of people are being forced out of their homes and farms every month," Marbella said. The long-running conflict has taken a sharp toll on the Philippine economy, as farmers are barely able to sustain themselves.There was no immediate comment from Jolie's reps regarding the request. The refugee problem in the developing world has become a principal passion for Jolie, whose humanitarian work has taken her to camps in Cambodia, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Pakistan and Iraq.