‘Only 86 of 17,000 families were able to return to Marawi’

TWO years after the start of its rehabilitation, Marawi City still remains a ghost town as most of the families who used to live there have yet to return.

Task Force Bangon Marawi Chairman and Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development Secretary Eduardo D. del Rosario admitted that only 86 of the estimated 17,000 families in the most affected areas (MAA) in the war-torn city were able to return to construct or repair their homes.

A total of 2,138 people have applied for construction or repair permits in Marawi City.

Of these applications, 1,838 were accompanied by the necessary document including proof of ownership of the land, where they will rebuild their homes.

The local government, however, was only able to approve 482 of the said applications.

Overlapping claims

MARAWI City Mayor Majul U. Gandamra said they have to “scrutinize” the submitted documents to ensure there will be no land dispute during the reconstruction period in his city.

“Some of our personnel and that of the building official encountered some application [that] overlapped [with one another] so we have to scrutinize all of these applications to ensure we will not create a problem in Marawi City,” Gandamra said.

Further slowing down their operations, Gandamra said, is the onset of the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic, which government addressed by limiting the movement of people.

However, the local chief executive noted that even among the approved application, only 86 were able to go back and live in their previous homes.

“There are many that were approved, but until now have yet to start the construction probably as mentioned by del Rosario, it depends on the capacity of their constituents to rebuild their homes,” Gandamra said.

Both Gandamra and Del Rosario said they hope Congress will pass the proposed legislation that will provide “compensation” for those who were affected by Marawi siege from May 23 to October 17, 2017.

If passed into law, both expect more families would be able to return to their homes.

Focus on livelihood

CONFIDENT that the rebuilding of infrastructures in Marawi City are on track, del Rosario said they now focusing on providing sustainable livelihood for the affected families.

He pointed out that of the P60 billion funds allocated by the government for the rehabilitation of Marawi City, only P13 billion is for infrastructure intervention.

The remaining P47 billion of the budget, he added, will be for non-infrastructure measures, which include providing livelihood.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has reported many of the beneficiaries of its livelihood kits to start a bakery or eatery in Marawi City are now thriving.

For its part, the Department of Social Welfare and Development aims to provide more livelihood opportunities to the affected families with its proposed P166 million budget next year.

“We will be providing P1 million each to 120 association to the IDPS in MAA, so that we can start their business,” Social Welfare Undersecretary Felicisimo C. Budiongan said.

Tourism potential

WITH these initiatives, del Rosario said he is confident will be able to fully recover a decade after its completed rehabilitation next year due to its potential to become a tourist spot.

He noted Marawi City’s elevated location, which is between that of Baguio City and Tagaytay, give it a cool climate and makes it an attractive summer destination.