Marawi rehab at 70%, done by end of Duterte's term — official
MANILA, Philippines — An official leading the rehabilitation of Marawi has vowed that the rebuilding of the war-torn city would be completed within President Rodrigo Duterte's term.
The president in his final State of the Nation Address yesterday said his government is now in a "race against time" to fulfill the promise of returning Marawi to its former glory.
Duterte steps down in June 2022, with less than a year remaining in his term.
Secretary Eduardo del Rosario, chief of the task force leading the efforts, said their progress in the overall reconstruction is now between 70 to 75%.
"By December, [a] substantial number of projects will be completed as embodied in the master development plan," he said in a statement.
The human settlements secretary in May reported that efforts had been taking long due to early intervention activities as well as clearing debris and removing bombs from the war in 2017.
Civil society groups in Marawi have urged Duterte to certify as urgent a proposed measure for the financial compensation of survivors of the siege.
While the president made mention of Marawi in his SONA, he did not heed the said call. Still, he told Del Rosario to finish the necessary work and bring back families to their home.
Del Rosario said the awarding of permanent housing units in the city is underway.
Since February, 279 shelters had been given, and two mosques in the area which sustained most damage had been inaugurated.
"More housing units will be awarded soon," he added, "while other projects are scheduled to be inaugurated in the coming months."
The Marawi siege led by members of the Islamic State-inspired Maute stretched to four months.
Estimate figures put the number of deaths at 114 civilians, 270 unidentified persons, 168 government troops, and 924 from the rebel group.
Duterte declared martial law in the entire Mindanao as a result of the war. It lasted for two years and seven months before it lapsed by end of 2019.
Vice President Leni Robredo releases a statement a year after the siege in Marawi. She says that even though the battle has ended, the fight to bring back to normal the lives and livelihood of Marawi residents continues.
"Marami pa ring pamilya ang walang permanenteng bahay at maayos na hanapbuhay. Maraming mga mamamayan ang nangangailangan pa rin ng ayuda," she says.
"Sinimulan na ng pamahalaan ang proseso ng rehabilitasyon. Nakiisa ang ating opisina rito sa pagtayo ng Angat Buhay Village sa Barangay Sagongsongan, sa Marawi, na magsisilbing kabahagi ng mga transitory shelter para sa mga nawalan ng tahanan sa pinakanasalantang bahagi ng Marawi. Mahalaga ang mga pagkilos na ito, at marami pang kailangang gawin para makabangon nang tuluyan muli ang Marawi."
Bahagi nito ang pagkilala na maliban sa mga gusaling nagiba at buhay na nasira, kailangang pangalagaan ang boses ng mga taga-Marawi sa pagsasagawa ng rehabilitasyon. Ang tinig na pinakamahalagang mapakinggan ay galing sa mga pamayanan na naapektuhan ng digmaan.
Marawi Reconstruction Conflict Watch, a partner of International Alert Philippines, thanks Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa for his reassurance that government has not forgotten the people of Marawi City, the site of intense fighting in 2017 between government forces and an ISIS-inspired terrorist group.
"We invite him to stand shoulder to shoulder with us in pushing for the urgent passage of the Marawi Compensation Bill. For us, the internally displaced peoples of Marawi, just compensation serves as our last hope to be able to rebuild our lives," MRCW also says.
Three years since its liberation, Vice Leni Robredo renews the call for a more urgent approach to the rehabilitation of war-torn Marawi.
The vice president also calls for the government's commitment to the rebuilding of a more peaceful and prosperous city.
"Liberation entails much more than silencing the gunfire," Robredo says.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros joins calls to highlight the plight of displaced residents of Marawi City more than three years after the siege that destroyed a large part of the capital of Lanao del Sur.
"The bloody and violent siege that took place in Marawi is still alive in the displacement of our sisters and brothers three years later, today. That is 1,095 days of worsening poverty and violence that they have suffered because we still have not made their pain a priority," she says in a statement Sunday.
She says the pandemic makes the displacement of Marawi resdients even more painful as they wait for reconstruction in the city.
"Dahil habang tayo ay nakakulong sa ating mga tahanan, karamihan sa kanila ay wala pa ring mauuwian (While we are confined to our homes, most of them still have no homes at all). Washing hands, social distancing, staying healthy and earning income despite everything are especially heavy when you have not even been given the opportunity to properly recover economically, socially and psychologically, from the trauma and pain of a bloody war."
The Liberal Party says Marawi residents should return to their homes three years after the bloody Marawi siege, also the eve of the Muslim celebration of the end of Ramadan, or Eid’l Fitr.
“Kasama kami sa ating mga kapatid na Muslim sa pagdiriwang ng Eid'l Fitr,” says Liberal Party president Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan.
“Kakaiba ang pagdiriwang ngayong taon, may lockdown at paghihigpit dahil sa sakit na COVID-19. Pinatindi nito ang hirap na dinadanas nila mula pa 2017. Naaalala pa natin ang mga nasirang buhay at kabuhayan ng mga kapatid nating Muslim. Hanggang ngayon, hindi pa nila naramdaman ang rehab ng gobyerno,” he adds.
There are 422 families living in nine evacuation centers and community-based centers in Marawi, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says in a Mindanao briefer citing December data.
"More than 10,000 families are home-based or staying with host communities according to the Task Force Bangon Marawi. Validation continues in informal ECs and community-based centers."
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