Creation of commission for Marawi rehab pushed

MANILA - Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta Partylist Rep. Jericho Nograles yesterday said that the death of two of the country's most notorious terrorist leaders -- Isnilon Hapilon of the Abu Sayyaf Group and Omar Maute of the Maute Group -- should now jumpstart a massive and well-organized reconstruction effort to rebuild Marawi City.

Nograles, who is also serving as acting congressman for the first district of Sulu, said that the task of rebuilding Marawi City and return its old glory as the center of Islamic culture in the Philippines is an enormous logistical and financial undertaking that would require an honest and dedicated group of civil work experts, logisticians and city planners.

Nograles proposed the creation of a non-partisan and non-sectarian reconstruction commission which would design and manage the reconstruc tion of Marawi City which has been flattened to the ground due to nearly five months of armed conflict.

He also proposed that Martial Law should remain in effect even after the last remnant of the Maute militants have been flushed out to ensure the swift and uninterrupted reconstruction effort in Marawi City.

He said that with expected outpouring of financial aid to support the reconstruction of Marawi, there is a need to establish a single but well-organized government body, fully backed by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, which would manage the funds for the reconstruction of the city.

"I think that we should learn from our Yolanda experience. There were too many cooks that spoiled the broth. Everyone's claiming credit for the projects but when problems began to manifest, everyone's playing

the blame game. We should do this differently in Marawi by creating a single government body that orchestrates all the needed reconstruction projects," Nograles said.

He said that Marawi reconstructions should put priority on the rebuilding of homes and schools to speed up the reinstatement of the tens of thousand of internally displaced residents without sacrificing proper urban zoning and design.