Marawi rehab to start by mid-2018

MANILA — Rehabilitation and rebuilding in battle-scarred Marawi City will start in the 2nd semester of 2018, according to Task Force Bangon Marawi chairperson Eduardo Del Rosario.

Del Rosario, who is also the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council chief, said on Monday that 201,785 residents of the provincial capital of Lanao del Sur were affected by five months of fighting between government forces and militant terrorists.

Identified as important and immediate needs are food, water, electricity, housing, livelihood, education, places of worship.

Marawi City Mayor Majul Usman Gandamra, for his part, shared that a total of 78,466 families were displaced by fighting and 86,772 children had to stop going to class because of the siege on Marawi by the Maute and Abu Sayyaf terror groups.

"Assessment of actual damage has started," he said, adding that there is a need to "ensure demolition and clearing are accomplished for the safety of people."

The government is looking into providing Marawi survivors 500 to 600 shelters by December to help ease pressure on crowded evacuation centers.

Del Rosario and Gandamra were both speakers at the United for Marawi Forum in Makati on Friday morning.

Agriculture and trading as targets for economic rehabilitation. The economy of Marawi is largely of a community dependent on agriculture, Del Rosario and Gandamra both said.