Palace ‘satisfied’ with pace of Marawi City rehabilitation

Malacañang on Tuesday expressed satisfaction with the progress of the rehabilitation of Marawi City and nearby towns destroyed by five months of fighting between government forces and ISIS-inspired militants last year.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque made the statement a day before the first anniversary of the Marawi siege, which set off a five-month military operation to retake the city from the Maute group that had claimed allegiance to the Islamic State.

According to Roque, 70 percent of the residents of Marawi are now staying in temporary shelters inside the city.

The government aims to relocate all evacuees to these temporary housing units within the year.

Roque also said President Rodrigo Duterte had full trust in housing czar and Task Force Bangon Marawi chairperson Eduardo del Rosario, who is tasked to oversee government efforts to rebuild Marawi and the towns of Butig and Piagapo in Lanao del Sur.

"Satisfied naman po," Roque told reporters when asked about the pace of the rehabilitation in Marawi City.

"We are even ahead of schedule pagdating po doon sa mga rebuilding of the communities...ang importante po 70 percent of the residents have gone back to Marawi are occupying homes that we built for them and life goes on for a greater majority of the residents of Marawi."

At least P53.4 billion would have to be spent for the rehabilitation of areas outside the most affected area composed of 24 barangays in Marawi, the National Economic and Development Authority said.

The rehabilitation will cover housing and settlement, livelihood and business development, physical infrastructure, social services, and land resource management.

The developer of the ground zero, meanwhile, will be known after the Swiss challenge set for this week on the proposal of a consortium of five Chinese and four Filipino construction companies.

Groundbreaking is expected to be held in June. 

Duterte imposed martial law for the entire Mindanao on May 23 last year, cutting short his trip to Russia to supervise government efforts to crush militants led by the Maute group, whom he said were trying to establish a caliphate for the Islamic State.

The President declared Marawi liberated last October after government troops killed terrorist leaders Isnilon Hapilon and Omar Maute. More than 1,000 people, mostly terror fighters, died amid the clashes.

Roque said Duterte might attend on Wednesday the commemoration of the first anniversary of the Marawi siege although "security considerations will prevent us from actually confirming it." 

Duterte last visited Marawi on May 11 when he met with 27 members of the Maute group who surrendered to the government. —NB, GMA News