Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 26) — President Rodrigo Duterte in his State of the Nation Address called on authorities to hasten rehabilitation efforts in war-stricken Marawi City and immediately facilitate the return of displaced families.
In his speech at the Batasang Pambansa on Monday, Duterte acknowledged that the rebuilding of Lanao del Sur’s capital has yet to be completed, nearly four years after it was declared liberated from Islamic State-linked fighters.
“To Task Force Bangon Marawi, we need to race against time,” the President said in his final SONA. “You have to finish the necessary work to rehabilitate the war-torn city and bring its families back home.”
Duterte announced the liberation of Marawi in October 2017 after a siege that lasted for five months.
However, Marawi Advocacy Accompaniment, a network of civil society groups in Mindanao, earlier said rehabilitation has been “very slow.” The President’s promises remain unfulfilled, the group said, including the provision of just compensation for damages to livelihood and properties.
It added that the delays “contribute further not only to the trauma still being endured by the bakwits [evacuees] of the siege but also to the century-old narrative of marginalization, discrimination and exclusion and social deprivation.”
For his part, Task Force Bangon Marawi chairman Eduardo del Rosario has said rehabilitation works remain on track and that they are “confident” these will be finished by year-end or “well within” Duterte’s term.
READ: Rehabilitating Marawi City, a promise yet to be fulfilled?
In last year’s SONA, Duterte said nothing about the city, much to the dismay of local officials who accused him of not prioritizing the people of Marawi.
