Admin bet: Duterte’s remark that gov’t won’t spend on Marawi rehab just a ‘light moment’

BONGAO, Tawi-Tawi — President Rodrigo Duterte was probably just having a "light moment" when he said that the government will no longer fund the rehabilitation of war-torn Marawi City anymore, administration Senate bet Francis Tolentino said.

"I was present nun eh. Marami kasing jokes nun ang Presidente. Sunod sunod 'yun. Declaring war on Canada for sending the garbage...kasi paalis na siya noon eh. I would surmise kasama 'yan sa mga light moments niya," Tolentino said at the sidelines of the campaign stop here on Thursday.

At a situation briefing in San Fernando City, Pampanga on Tuesday after the recent 6.1-magnitude earthquake in Luzon, Duterte said he would leave the reconstruction of the southern city to rich residents.

"I don't think that I should be spending for their buildings. Hindi ako mag-gagastos ng ano," he said.

"Marami man 'yang pera 'yang mga tao diyan. Every Maranao there is a businessman. Kasali na 'yang shabu. May pera sila. The debate there is whether I would be also building the same kind that they lost. I don't think I am ready for that," the President added.

He also said that the Marawi crisis was a “man-made calamity.”

“It was bound to happen because of what they were doing there,” he said.

Tolentino sought to explain Duterte's thought process.

"Kasi pinareport 'yung HUDCC representative [sa Marawi], eh biktima rin ng earthquake sa Porac ['yung HUDCC head], so dun nagtuloy-tuloy 'yung trail of thought niya," he said.

HUDCC is the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council.

Tolentino said that he was "sure" Duterte will not abandon Marawi.

"I'm sure 'di naman pababayaan ng Pangulo ang Marawi. Naghahanap lang ng mode kung public-private partnership para doon sa downtown area para mapabilis or kung paano tatanggap ng foreign aid. Marami kasing nag-aalok ng foreign aid andun pa sa stage na yun ang ating Pangulo," said the senatorial candidate, who served as President Duterte's Adviser for Political Affairs.

Tolentino then said that a Department of Disaster Management should be established to speed up repair and rehabilitation work in the aftermath of disasters.

"If you have one department na tututok rito, mas mabilis," he said. "Hindi lang Marawi eh; 'yung Zamboanga siege, 'yung post-Yolanda experience...marami ng ganito. Hindi natin maa-isolate sa Marawi lang. Whether it is man-made or natural calamity, kailangan talaga ng isang ahensiya na yun lang ang tinututukan," Tolentino added.

Duterte placed Mindanao under martial law in May 2017 after government authorities were overwhelmed by the forces of the terror Maute group while trying to serve an arrest warrant on terrorist leader Isnilon Hapilon.

The battle for the Islamic City of Marawi lasted five months, devastating the city and  destroying communities.

The Marawi siege killed over a hundred people and resulted in at least P53 billion worth of damage, for which billions in both local and foreign aid was pledged.

Since the President's declaration of martial law in Mindanao in May 2017, Congress has extended martial rule over the region three times: by six months in July 2017, by one year in December 2017, and by another year in December 2018, based on the President's argument that rebellion in Mindanao continues. — BM, GMA News