Task force chief vows Marawi rehab completion within Duterte’s term

Task Force Bangon Marawi (TFBM) chairman Secretary Eduardo del Rosario on Tuesday said the rehabilitation of public infrastructures in Marawi City will be completed within President Rodrigo Duterte’s term.

The TFBM chairman and Housing chief issued his statement after Duterte called for the task force to hasten efforts in rebuilding the country’s lone Islamic city during his sixth and final State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday.

“On behalf of Task Force Bangon Marawi and our 56 implementing agencies, I would like to assure our President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and our Maranao brothers and sisters that we will complete the rehabilitation of all major infrastructures in Marawi City within his administration,” Del Rosario said.

“Currently, we are 70 to 75 percent complete in the overall rehabilitation works, and by December, a substantial number of projects will be completed as embodied in the master development plan,” he added.

Del Rosario has been conducting monthly inspection of the ongoing rehabilitation works in Marawi since the construction of vertical and horizontal structures went full blast in July 2020, according to the TFBM.

Last week, the task force said its chief visited Marawi, in which he spearheaded the awarding of 170 more permanent shelters to families of internally displaced persons.

Del Rosario also led the inauguration of Masjid Darussalam, the second mosque to be repaired inside Marawi’s “ground zero.”

He stressed that Marawi residents are now starting to feel and enjoy the initial fruition of the rehabilitation works.

“In fact, we have started awarding permanent housing units -- so far we have already awarded 279 permanent shelters since February and two mosques inside the most affected area have been inaugurated, and more housing units will be awarded soon while other projects are scheduled to be inaugurated in the coming months,” Del Rosario said.

Already, residents of Sectors 1 to 3 inside the most affected area (MAA) have returned to their homes as early as August last year following restoration of power supply in the area, according to the TFBM.

In his final SONA, Duterte urged the TFBM to hasten rehabilitation efforts and ensure the swift return of families affected by the siege back to their homes.

“To Task Force Bangon Marawi, we need to race against time. You have to finish the necessary work to rehabilitate the war-torn city and bring its families back home,” the President said.

The President ends his term on June 30 next year.

Progress

Much progress had transpired in Marawi following the 2017 siege perpetrated by Daesh-inspired terrorists, evidenced by the completion of 19-kilometer Transcentral Roads, the Tolali Barangay Complex with health station and madrasah, the fully-equipped Rorogagus Health Station, the Central Material Recovery Facility, the Lilod Guimba Bridge, the Banggolo Bridge, Mapandi Bridge and the Disomangcop Mosque, according to the TFBM.

This is on top of the sustained livelihood and other assistance programs being implemented by various government and non-government organizations, it said.

Scheduled for completion in the coming weeks are more permanent shelters in various resettlement sites; the road networks inside MAA with underground utilities, solar lamps and traffic lights whose completion will signal the return of IDPs from Sectors 4 to 7, and the inauguration of more mosques, among others, it added.

Meanwhile, other infrastructure projects like the three-story 20-classroom school buildings, the mall-like Grand Padian Market, the School of Living Tradition, the Peace Memorial, Marawi Museum, Marawi Convention Center, the Sarimanok Stadium — all inside the ground zero, are now in various stages of completion, the TFBM said.

Del Rosario said the Marawi rehabilitation will be a catalyst for growth and sustainable development, a template of good governance and a model for a peaceful environment, adding the only Islamic City in the country will transform into a competitive urban area once the rebuilding is completed. 

The terrorist Maute Group attempted to seize Marawi but were driven out in a campaign that lasted from May to October 2017.

However, the city was in shambles after months of urban warfare.

Government records released by the Palace on Sunday said that only 18% of the targeted number of permanent houses have so far been built in Lanao del Sur's war-ravaged provincial capital.

Del Rosario, however, said the city's rehabilitation was 68% finished in June 2021 from 65% in May 2021.

Last year, Vice President Leni Robredo criticized the concerned government agencies that Marawi remains in ruins three years after the clash between state and rebel forces. 

In 2019, the chief of Marawi City’s Internally Displaced Persons Association (IDPs) on Wednesday urged President Rodrigo Duterte to sack top officials of the National Housing Authority (NHA), Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) and TFBM over alleged anomalies in rehabilitating the war-torn city. 

But Del Rosario said criticisms of the government’s efforts in rehabilitating the war-torn city were “inaccurate” and “unfair” as rehabilitation efforts continue.  — RSJ, GMA News