Marawi rehab remains on track – task force

he Task Force Bangon Marawi (TFBM) assured that the rehabilitation of the war-torn city remains on track despite sentiments of some locals there that President Duterte has no concern for Muslims.

The TFBM made the statement following a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey which showed that 36 percent of internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Marawi City, Lanaodel Sur, believe that Duterte is not concerned.

According to the TFBM, they acknowledge the sentiments of Marawi residents. However, they also commended the positive results from the survey.

“While we acknowledge the sentiments of our brothers and sisters from Marawi, we are thankful for and would like to highlight positive results from the survey as well,” it said.

Based on the survey, 40 percent of Marawi residents believe their situation “will be better” in the next 12 months; while 78 percent appreciate the government’s relief efforts.

In addition, 60 percent of Marawi residents also believe that the areas damaged by the armed conflict in Marawi City can fully recover under the term of Duterte.

“As indicated by Task Force Bangon Marawi (TFBM) Chairman Secretary Eduardo del Rosario, we are still on track with the timeline set by the government, which means the Marawi rehabilitation will be finished by December, 2021,” the statement read.

“We attribute these developments to the hard work of each agency involved in your Task Force, as well as all the stakeholders who contributed to our endeavors,” it added.

Earlier, Malacañang said it was understandable that some Marawi residents would feel that President Duterte has no concern for them.

“This sentiment, which is lower compared to other areas, is understandable, given that Marawi City has been the center of the Maute rebellion, which resulted in its destruction and displacement of its residents,” Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said in a statement.

“Nevertheless, it is important to note that even after the Marawi siege, majority continues to put its trust in the President,” he added.

Malacañang, however, said it is grateful that a sizable majority of Marawi City respondents believes that our rebuilding and rehabilitation efforts are going in the right track.

Last week, the TFBM reported that the groundbreaking for the reconstruction of Marawi City was moved from July to late August after negotiations with a China-led consortium broke down.

Del Rosario had earlier explained that the government’s negotiations with BangonMarawi Consortium (BMC) for the Marawi development were unsuccessful after it failed to meet certain financial, technical, and legal requirements.

He added that the government instead started to negotiate with another Chinese group, Power Construction Corporation of China or PowerChina, as a potential Marawi developer.

According to the TFBM, negotiations are still ongoing to award a developer with the Original Proponent Status (OPS). The OPS will then be put through the Swiss Challenge, where other developers can bid against them. The Swiss Challenge is also faster compared to other procurement methods.

“If we try other modes, we estimate the process to last another 22 months. We have to be very prudent to ensure we get the right developer who can do the rehabilitation of the most affected areas with the right quality and reasonable costs,” the TFBM said in its recent statement.

The Task Force assured that it will continue to put in their best effort to ensure proper processes are being followed for Marawi city’s best interest.

“We wish that we could do it right now and not later, however, based on our indicative timeline, and assuming that we will have a successful negotiation with the second developer, the ground breaking is aimed to take place on the last week of August. Regardless, our timeline remains intact,” it said.