Probe urged on harassment of Marawi evacuees in Iligan

LANAO DEL SUR, Philippines — Officials have urged Malacañang to investigate on a seeming plan by local leaders to evict evacuees from Marawi City now occupying houses in the Bayanihan Village in Iligan City.

Vice Gov. Haroun Al-Rashid Lucman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao said Wednesday he first broke the issue to Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana during the ARMM regional peace and order council meeting last week at the Western Mindanao Command headquarters in Zamboanga City.

“These persistent reports about internally-displaced people from Marawi City being pressured to leave the Bayanihan Village where they have procured houses after having been dislodged from their homes by a bloody siege last year by terrorists is so hurting for us, their leaders,” Lucman said.

The Bayanihan Village is located in Sta. Elena in Iligan City, which us under Administrative Region 10.

Marawi City, capital of Lanao del Sur, and all 39 towns in the province are component-areas of ARMM.

Many houses in the village built for families displaced by a powerful typhoon that pummeled Iligan City and nearby towns in 2011 had been sold by owners to victims of the May 23 to Oct. 16, 2017 siege of Marawi City by combined Maute and Abu Sayyaf terrorist.

One local official had reportedly even personally warned the new owners of the houses to leave voluntarily or get evicted forcibly.

“The affected villagers are ready to sign sworn statements pertaining to their sad experiences. Their sentiments were brought to our attention by the elders of the Maranaos who acquired houses there legally,” Lucman said.

Sources from the local political community said it is a known fact that there are hardened anti-Moro elected officials in their ranks.

Lucman said dozens of original owners of houses in the Bayanihan Village offered their units to IDPs from Marawi City whose homes were destroyed during last year’s conflict there.

The five-month hostilities in Marawi City left hundreds of people dead, among them soldiers and policemen, caused the displacement of thousands and left dozens of historic Maranao enclaves in ruins.

“Secretary Lorenzana responded nicely when I raised the issue during the meeting of members of the ARMM peace and order council in Zamboanga City last March 21,” Lucman said.

Lorenzana had assured to look into the complaints of Maranao IDPs now residing at the Bayanihan Village.

“Defense Secretary Lorenzana also told us during that meeting that evictions cannot be done just like that and that even the local government unit of Iligan City cannot do that,” Lucman said.

Lucman said he and his constituent-leaders in Marawi City and Lanao del Sur want the central office of the Department of the Interior and Local Government to initiate an inquiry on the issue.

“This will have a bad impact on the Mindanao peace initiatives of President Duterte if left unchecked. We in the ARMM are very supportive of Malacañang’s peace process intended to peacefully put an end to the Mindanao secessionist conflict,” Lucman said.

ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman said he will ask the Regional Commission on Human Rights, whose office is inside the regional capitol in Cotabato City, to investigate on the issue too.

“The move shall be coordinated with the office of the Commission on Human Rights in Region 10, the police and the military because Mindanao is currently under martial law,” Hataman said Wednesday.