The Islamic City of Marawi remains far from total rehabilitation though four years have passed since the city was attacked by Islamic State-inspired militants. For a local leader, now that the conflict has long ended, the government should start seeing the city’s rehabilitation as a social issue rather than a security one.
Only 60 percent of Marawi have been rebuilt as of last April, according to Housing Secretary Eduardo del Rosario. While the government aims to complete its rehabilitation plan by year’s end, Sultan Abdul Hamidullah Atar, the Sultan of Marawi, believes that the plan is far from what the locals need.
“The comprehensive plan for rehabilitation never became inclusive, culturally sensitive, and is disrespectful,” Hamidullah Atar said in a forum hosted by Suara Bangsamoro, a Moro advocacy group, on May 28.
Over 300,000 individuals were displaced at the height of the conflict in mid-2017. In 2018, the government unveiled a massive P17.2-billion master plan for the Islamic city which consists of some 892 projects. The rehabilitation, which began shortly after the city was liberated in June 2017, is due to be finished before President Rodrigo Duterte’s term ends in 2022.
The project involves dividing the city into “sectors” where public spaces like parks, plazas, malls, and a new road network will be constructed. Museums and other memorials will also be built to commemorate the siege. A consortium of Chinese and Filipino companies was tasked to rebuild the city from the ground up.
Yet a year before the city’s supposed restoration will end, more than 27,000 families remain sheltered in temporary housing, the sultan said. Even worse, some of the residents’ houses, which were situated far from the main battle zone, were also destroyed by government contractors “to justify the use of the [rehabilitation] budget,” Hamidullah Atar added.
Around 35,000 families may have been affected by the siege, according to a 2018 report of the United Nation High Commission for Refugees. This corresponds to around 100,000 internally displaced persons across 56 towns and three cities up to now.
“Many evacuees face discrimination and threats. Various evacuation sites have [also] received inadequate support in medical assistance. There is even no potable water system,” the sultan described of the evacuees’ plight.
Even until now, Hamidullah Atar claimed, the city is yet to have its electricity restored while the slow pace of road construction prevented most residents from returning to whatever is left of their old houses.
But for the sultan and other local Meranaw leaders, the city’s complete destruction might have been avoided in the first place. At the height of the government’s efforts to retake the city, elders have expressed their opposition from aerially bombarding the city to spare the structures far from the main battle area.
Even the two-year-long martial law in Mindanao did not help in rebuilding the city as the military focused on fighting extremists and communist insurgents on the island. “Until now, the people of Marawi [needs] an answer [on] why did the government declare martial law without consulting the elders,” Hamidullah Atar said.
“The state’s obligation is to protect the lives and properties of any form. This did not happen,” the sultan said, adding that the local government even refused to certify the death of the civilian residents whose remains were never found during the five-month conflict.
Even though four years have passed, local leaders and residents are still adamant in seeking answers and accountability for what happened in their city. For one, the sultan pressed Congress to conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, to probe the use of Marawi rehabilitation funds, and the massive security failure to deter the attack in the first place.
“After four years we still feel anger and rage,” the sultan said. “It is our basic right as displaced individuals to know the cause and to find closure.” ●
