Bad weather prompts PDut to scrap Marawi trip

MARAW CITY --Bad weather prompted President Rodrigo Duterte to cancel his scheduled visit to Marawi City yesterday, December 27.

The President was supposed to visit Barangay Sagongsongan, here to lead the turn-over of temporary shelters for the families displaced by the war against the Daesh-inspired terror group.

Duterte instead went straight to Tubod, Lanao del Norte to personally listen to reports from officials of the provincial government on the damages brought by severe tropical storm Vinta that hit Northern Mindanao in December 22.

“I went to Marawi, encircled for a while but we could not make an opening there, di kami makapasok so we proceeded to Salvador to view the damage before landing here (Tubod),” Duterte said in his meeting with the provincial government officials and municipal mayors.

But the scheduled turnover of temporary houses in Sagongsongan proceeded as planned and was led by HUDCC Secretary Eduard Del Rosario, the head of Task Force Bangon Marawi (TFBM). But instead of turning

over 500 units to 500 displaced families, as promised by the government, the TFBM turned-over only 250 units, according to Assistant Secretary Felix Castro, field office manager of TFBM.

Another 250 units will be turned-over on January next year, Castro said.

Although the first 250 beneficiaries have already received their certificate of ownership, Castro said they can occupy their unit only on the last week of December this year.

“May kailangan pa kasing tapusin like plumbing, power lines, pero sa loob nalang ng mga bahay-bahay, finishing nalang (Some things need to be finished like plumbing, power lines),” Castro said.

Engr. Alykhan Ali, Assistant District Engineer of DPWH Lanao del Norte said the delayed in finishing 500 houses on the target date is caused by the delayed of materials coming from Korea.

However, Ali said, road networks of areas 2, 3, 4 and 5 are already 98% complete.

“Ang road network for area 1 ay nasimulan na pero konti pa lang dahil kulang sa heavy equipment ang contractor. The DPWH is helping them to finish it bago mag-transfer ang mga beneficiaries (The road network for area 1 has been started although the contractor lacks some heavy equipment. The DPWH is helping to finish it),” he added.

“Piping for water supply is all complete and ready, naghintay nalang para ma-connect sa main source (we are just waiting for them to be connected with the main source) which is the City Water District,” Ali said.

It can be recalled that TFBM committed to transfer at least 500 families from evacuation centers to the transitory shelters in Sagongsongan last December 15 but due to bad weather condition, it did not reach the target date.

The temporary relocation site in Sagongsongan is located in a 13-hectare land where some 1,175 pre-fabricated steel and concrete single detached houses with 22 square meter floor area on a 54 square meter lot will be built.

Each house has its own comfort and bathrooms as requested by the residents.

The whole area is divided into five areas with five contractors simultaneously working.

Farmida Macabando, President of the Association of Barangay Councils in Marawi City, said a technical working group (TWG) was created to screen and verify the rightful beneficiaries in the temporary shelters.

Given top priority are families coming from the 24 barangays inside the ground zero.

Some residents from outside the former main battle area are also considered to be prioritized because their houses burned down while the crisis was ongoing.

The TWG is also setting a criteria of beneficiaries, Macabando said.

“Dapat willing silang bumalik sa Marawi, willing tumira sa Sagongsongan at validated sila na residente ng barangay (They should be willing to go back to Marawi, they should be willing to live in Sagongsongan and they should be validated residents of the affected barangays),” she added.

The beneficiaries should also have their own house in the ground zero and have no income, according to Macabando.

70% of these beneficiaries are coming from the evacuation center while 30% are home-based.