The spokesman of the Armed Forces of the Philippines-Joint Task Force (AFP-JTF) Ranao today said that a big portion of Marawi has returned to normalcy almost one year since members of the Maute Group terrorize the city.
(REUTERS/Erik De Castro / MANILA BULLETIN)
In an interview over radio station dzBB, Col. Romeo Brawner said that almost all areas in the city have already been accessed by civilians except the 24 barangays which is considered the most affected areas or ground zero.
“Right now the situation here in Marawi is peaceful and we have lots of kababayans who have already returned to their homes. We can say that a big portion of Marawi is back to normal,” Brawner said in Filipino.
Brawner said they are still not allowing civilians to return to their homes in the 24 barangays which are part of ground zero due to the possible presence of unexploded ordnance or bombs.
However, residents were allowed to enter their barangays from April 1 to May 10, 2018 to salvage some of the belongings which they can still use.
“We allowed them (residents) per barangay three days to salvage some of their belongings. This started on April 1 up to May 10 and we can say that almost all residents have seen their homes and now we are again closing the most affected areas so that the clearing operations of unexploded bombs can continue,” Brawner said.
Brawner said that as of latest reports they received from their engineers, about 85 percent of unexploded bombs have already been recovered.
“According to our engineers, about 85 percent of the affected areas have been cleared from the bombs that were dropped by our planes that did not explode,” Brawner said.
“There are still many to be retrieved, there are about 70 bombs dropped that did not explode and so far we only recovered 19 of them. So there are still many yet to be found,” he added.
Brawner said members of the AFP ‘s Engineering Brigade and Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Unit are tasked to find it.
AFP Chief of Staff General Carlito Galvez earlier said the full rehabilitation of Marawi City which was devastated by war last year will be in full swing on June 15, 2018.
Galvez said he recently went to the war-torn city to prepare the commanders for its
rehabilitation and to ensure that the projects there will not be impeded.
“We have to make sure that the rehabilitation will be unimpeded, it will be safe, and our contractors will not be hampered by any threat of kidnapping or any aggressions from the Maute-ISIS,” Galvez said.
“That’s why we will be conducting some brainstorming with my commanders so that we will reactivate or we will reorganize our forces in order to support 100-percent the Task Force Bangon Marawi,” he added.
Galvez added that he believes the rehabilitation of the city will be very successful based on the plans which he personally saw and discussions he made with Secretary Eduardo Del Rosario of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council who currently chairs the inter-agency Task Force for the Recovery, Reconstruction, and Rehabilitation of Marawi City.
“I’ve been there in Marawi and spoke regularly with Secretary Del Rosario. He said to me that they already conducted consultations and based on his statement the consultations have been favorable. If you will see the plans, [it’s] very beautiful,” he added.
Galvez said that insofar as he is concerned, the task force has programs lined up from May 17 to 23 to commemorate the first anniversary of the Marawi siege which left more than 1,000 people -Maute/Abu Sayyaf terrorists, soldiers and civilians- dead.
Galvez also said that in continuation of peace-building and recovery efforts, Task Force Bangon Marawi is currently holding Marawi Week of Peace from May 17 to 23, 2018 in Marawi City under the theme “Peace Starts with US: Give, Work, Share.”
Galvez said according to TFBM, the collaborative activities are geared to strengthen social cohesion between government and the people of Marawi by delivering socioeconomic support, spiritual development promotion, and continuous citizen engagement.
In partnership with the governments of Marawi City and Lanao del Sur, the ARMM, national and regional line agencies, military and police, the task force will simultaneously roll out an information campaign on the MAA Rehabilitation Plan and the Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Recovery Program to increase awareness and secure local support for TFBM’s ongoing recovery and rehabilitation efforts.
The siege, which lasted for five months, damaged billions of pesos worth of properties in the area.
The Duterte administation, it was recalled, has allocated billions of pesos to rehabilitate the war-torn city.
The total cost of the massive rehabilitation of Marawi and nearby areas is estimated at P72 billion.
Of the cost, the government estimates P17.2 billion will cover the development of the most affected area in Marawi City involving 24 barangays.
Around P55 billion will be used for the rehabilitation of the rest of the city and nearby towns destroyed by the five months of terror siege. Fund sources included government funds, private donations and official development assistance.
During what seemed like a normal afternoon in Marawi City on May 23, 2017, a firefight erupted between the military and an undetermined number of men, later identifying themselves as the Maute group.
The crossfire resulted in thousands of Maranaos fleeing to relatives, friends or evacuation centers in nearby areas. The chaos and destruction caused by these terrorists prompted President Duterte to declare martial law in Mindanao, and to create a body that would help Marawi rise again when the war is over.
Thus, the Duterte administration issued Administrative Order 3, and Task Force Bangon Marawi was born. It is composed of various government agencies working together toward the recovery, reconstruction and rehabilitation of the conflict-stricken city.
The interagency Task Force for the Recovery, Reconstruction, and Rehabilitation of Marawi City is headed by chairperson Eduardo Del Rosario from Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council with the assistance of Office of Civil Defense as the Secretariat.
TFBM is composed of different subcommittees and support groups to ensure that all concerns related to the city’s development process are appropriately addressed. All the subcommittees are working in close partnership with the local governments of ARMM, Lanao del Sur and Marawi.
https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/05/20/brawner-a-big-portion-of-marawi-is-back-to-normal-almost-a-year-after-seige/
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