The Philippine government on Tuesday disputed a Washington Post report which claimed that Marawi City remained a 鈥済host town,鈥� more than a year after government forces took back control of the Lanao del Sur provincial capital from local terror groups.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no truth to what came out in the Washington Post, because everyone we鈥檝e talked to has questioned why it was referred to as a ghost city,鈥� said Eduardo del Rosario, chair of the Task Force Bangon Marawi, the agency leading the rehabilitation of the city after a five-month war between government soldiers and groups who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.
In a press briefing in Malaca帽ang on Tuesday, Del Rosario said Marawi was 鈥渇ull of economic activity,鈥� contrary to the image depicted in the Feb. 1 report.
The article said 鈥淢arawi looks almost as it did when the bombs and bullets stopped flying in October 2017鈥� and that none of the debris was cleared, with no new structures built.
鈥極ff tangent鈥�
Del Rosario said the depiction of Marawi as a 鈥済host city鈥� was 鈥渢oo off tangent with the truth and reality in Marawi City.鈥�
鈥淲hen we speak of a ghost city, we think of a place abandoned by the government and nothing is happening. This is not true,鈥� he said. 鈥淏usiness activity, economic activity and the movement of people 鈥� so many vehicles are going to Marawi City and this triggers economic activity.鈥�
Del Rosario said only 250 hectares of Marawi鈥檚 total land area of 8,000 ha were considered the 鈥渕ost affected area鈥� or ground zero of the fighting.
鈥淚t was dramatized too negatively. We would just like to say that the reality on the ground is that it鈥檚 not a ghost city, but instead it鈥檚 full of economic activity, he said. 鈥�Julie Aurelio