Troops still clearing Marawi of bombs

MANILA, Philippines — Even as the five-month-old armed conflict in Marawi City is finally over, government forces have yet to clear the bombs and booby traps left by the Islamic State-inspired Maute group.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Eduardo Año said that despite the semblance of normalcy, soldiers are still doing damage assessment and physical clearing within the main battle area.

“There’s no reported fighting as of this time. And the first thing that we are now doing is conducting battle assessment and physical clearing, not of the enemies but of bombs and improvised explosive devices (IED) that might have been left in the area,” he added.

During the battle, the military launched airstrikes almost every day to flush out the terrorists from their well-entrenched bunkers and high-rise structures.

Twenty-two battalions from the Army, Air Force and Navy were deployed to liberate Marawi from the Maute group.

“Gradually, we are now pulling out units that we pulled out from the Visayas and Luzon but we are making sure that there will be enough forces left in Marawi,” Año said.

The AFP chief said soldiers will continue to be on guard for the “lone wolf attack,” wherein one or two Maute supporters could stage bombing attacks.

Año also bared that aside from Australia, Singapore and the United States also offered to train Filipino troops in urban warfare through joint exercises.

“I think at this time we can brag that our soldiers are experts in urban fighting with our experience in Marawi, with all the enemies down to the last man (taken out) unlike in other countries where the terrorists have simply relocated or moved to other areas,” he added.

Gov’t bonds for Marawi rehab

After the liberation of Marawi, President Duterte created a rehabilitation task force chaired by Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, who estimated an initial cost of P50 billion.

Foreign investors are receptive to the administration’s plan to float bonds to finance the reconstruction of war-devastated Marawi City, Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone said.

He said the roadshow in the United States two weeks ago of economic managers for investments in Marawi and other parts of the country “was warmly welcomed by institutional investors.”

“The Bureau of Treasury should pursue its plan to issue P50 billion in Marawi bonds, considering the low interest rates prevailing in the market. It should capitalize on the outpouring of sympathy of the investors to the victims of the Marawi siege,” Evardone said. 

“By tapping the bond market to finance the Marawi reconstruction, it will free up a lot of regular budget for other social and infrastructure programs of the government,” he added.

Evardone was part of the delegation as chairman of the committee on banks and financial intermediaries of the House of Representatives. 

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III headed the delegation, whose members included Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Cayetano, Bangko Sentral Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr., National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon and a member of the staff of Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez.

Rep. Ron Salo of party-list group Kabayan has urged Malacañang to tap millions of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) as a source of funding for the rehabilitation of Marawi City. He suggested that bonds in small denominations could be offered to small investors, including OFWs. 

He noted that companies that go on initial public offerings, or list their shares in the stock exchange, allocate a portion of such shares to small investors in denominations as low as P5,000.

“The budget requirements for rebuilding Marawi are simply too big to be loaded on the national budget in one or a few tranches. Reconstruction bonds are really the way to spread out the cost over many years while getting the funds in the present and near term. We need those funds soon, not later,” he said.

Other congressmen proposed that Congress create a body that would oversee the reconstruction of the war-devastated city.

Alternatively, they said the President could appoint an officer with Cabinet rank, similar to what former president Benigno Aquino lll did with the reconstruction effort in Eastern Visayas after Super Typhoon Yolanda struck the region in November 2013. Aquino appointed Sen. Panfilo Lacson as reconstruction czar.

‘Single system’

For Vice President Leni Robredo, there should be a “single system” that will manage all assistance that will be extended to affected residents. 

“I think whether you’re from government or private organization, we need to have one command, one plan,” Robredo said in an interview in Bulan, Sorsogon on Tuesday.

Robredo noted that because of the limited resources, people involved in the rehabilitation should make sure that there is no duplication of work.

The Vice President also reiterated her call for the government to include the residents of Marawi in the planning process.

“We need to listen to the voice of the affected communities. It’s important that they agree with the plan based on their culture, because they are the ones who will benefit from this, or suffer if something goes wrong,” she added.

Marawi City is one of the partners of the Office of the Vice President’s Angat Buhay anti-poverty program.

Robredo has committed to helping in the rehabilitation efforts, together with its private partners. She said they are just waiting for clearance from concerned agencies if it already safe to enter Marawi.

Many workers won’t return to Marawi

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is considering releasing additional P30 million for the implementation of an emergency employment program in Marawi.

But many of the displaced workers no longer intend to return and rebuild their lives in Marawi.

“We estimated that about 5,000 workers were displaced in Marawi. But that is a rough figure because we believe many of them won’t go back to the city because their homes and lives have been destroyed,” said Muslimin Jakilan, regional secretary of the DOLE-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

“The DOLE central office is very responsive to the problem in Marawi, especially in rehabilitation and emergency employment. They have funds for that purpose and we are now working with the regional office to come out with the program,” he added.

Bello said the DOLE will coordinate with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), which will also come up with its own social rehabilitation plan for Marawi.

“We are rebuilding communities not just the infrastructure. We need to know how to help people cope with the trauma of their recent ordeal. We need to bring normalcy in Marawi,” DSWD officer-in-charge Emmanuel Leyco said.

Leyco said he will consider suggestions to increase the wages for the cash-for-work program to make it equal to the regional wage rate. 

There would also be changes in the program starting 2018 to address the needs of internally displaced persons working for a living.

The DSWD has recorded at least 77,000 internally displaced persons staying in 80 evacuation centers. 

As of Oct. 23, affected families have received P518,153,407.97 worth of relief assistance.

The assistance includes cash, family food packs, infant dry cereal, packs of high-energy biscuits, family tents, hygiene kits, dignity kits, malongs,  mosquito nets, plastic mats, blankets, sets of kitchen utensils and other items like laminated sacks, tarpaulins, sacks and brassieres.  –  With Helen Flores, Jess Diaz, Rainier Allan Ronda, Mayen Jaymalin