Marawi must rise from its own strength

There is no argument that Marawi badly needs help in order to stand back on its feet. But the trap of assuming every conceivable step and resource toward that end must be avoided at all cost by all sectors. The people of Marawi must be made willing participants in their own rehabilitation. The severity of the disaster cannot justify any relinquishing of internal responsibilities.

The fact cannot be ignored that nothing moves in a community without at least some members of that community knowing about it. And the fact cannot also be ignored that once some members of the community learn of something, the rest of the community soon learns the whole thing. Word not only gets around, it gets around real fast.

It is therefore inconceivable that when the terrorists that took over Marawi started amassing weapons and stockpiling supplies and munition, they succeeded in containing their activities in utter secrecy. That just does not happen. In all likelihood, some in Marawi must have wised up to what was going on but either ignored it, or worse, were in acquiescence.

Such possibilities give rise to questions that involve all the what ifs — what if the activities had been reported?, or if reported would the tragedy have been averted? The questions are simply endless. But the answers will all have a common thread in them, which is that Marawi residents cannot be completely innocent of the tragedy that befell them.

Again this is not to add more to what that sad place and its people could possibly suffer and hopefully bear. But for Marawi to be able to stand again and move on, there are some difficult and uneasy truths it must be able to wrestle with and perhaps bring into submission. And among them is the most contentious truth of all — that the crisis could have been avoidable.

The rehabilitation of Marawi must therefore commit a large part of local resources and active personal participation of its own people. Its newfound destiny must be a product of its own initiative and recognizance. The people of Marawi must feel a sense of shared commitment and responsibility in taking charge that what happened will not happen again.