RECONSTRUCTION A major road leading to the heavily damaged city center of Marawi, the main battleground during the 2017 siege, is among the first to be reconstructed in the government-led rehabilitation of the Lanao del Sur provincial capital. 鈥擱ICHEL V. UMEL
ILIGAN CITY, Lanao del Norte, Philippines 鈥� Maranao local government and civil society leaders welcomed the approval by the House of Representatives of a measure providing compensation to families whose properties in Marawi City were destroyed during a five-month battle between government forces and Islamic State-linked groups in 2017.
The House plenary on Monday voted to pass House Bill No. 9925, known as the Marawi Compensation Act, which is expected to help boost the reconstruction of the war-torn city, particularly the rebuilding of homes.
Currently, the rehabilitation effort through government funds is focused on establishing common-use infrastructure like roads, health centers, a park and public market.
Housing Secretary Eduardo del Rosario, chair of Task Force Bangon Marawi (TFBM), has targeted to have these facilities completed, if not almost done, by the end of the year.
Some 2,000 houses are being built but only for families who used to live in riverside and lakeside communities which are now 鈥渘o build zones鈥� and in state-owned lands that are now used for public infrastructure.
Lanao del Sur Gov. Mamintal Adiong Jr. expects that once the bill is signed into law, 鈥渨e are assured that our fellow Meranaos, who are severely affected by the Marawi siege, will have hope that they can rebuild their lives all over again.鈥滱diong said the provision of compensation had been the clamor of the people of Lanao del Sur in the last three years.
No one left behind
The war in 2017 affected 24 villages which comprise the city鈥檚 commercial district, the so-called most affected area (MAA). A profiling done by the TFBM counted 15,727 families displaced from the MAA.
More than 2,000 families have applied for building permits with the city government to rebuild their homes and about 500 are being built.
Marawi City Mayor Majul Gandamra said the compensation would drive more rebuilding of private homes although he had yet to know how many families would be covered by the measure.
鈥淲e have to make the necessary assessment so that no one will be left behind,鈥� he said.
The group Marawi Reconstruction Conflict Watch, in a statement, commended the House 鈥渇or taking this long-needed and decisive step toward recognizing the victims of the war in Marawi who deserve just compensation.鈥�
Maranao activist Drieza Lininding of the Moro Consensus Group said the measure鈥檚 passage 鈥渨as worth the wait, after all.鈥�
Acknowledging the delay in the House鈥檚 action on the bill, Deputy Speaker Mujiv Hataman said the measure 鈥渃ould hopefully give Marawi citizens a new start,鈥� urging the Senate to approve it soon.