Marawi City (CNN Philippines, October 14) — It was an unusual sight in war-torn Marawi – women sweeping by the roadside to clean up their community.
Residents are hoping to return to the city soon, even if their homes may have been reduced to rubble.
“Hindi kami nawawalan ng pag-asa, at sana matapos nang mas maaga, para makauwi na rin kung may uuwian pa,” one of the residents, Saifa Lumampa, told CNN Philippines.
[Translation: We won’t lose hope. We wish it would end sooner so we can go home.]
More than 300,000 residents have been forced to evacuate their homes since May 23, when government troops and terrorists began fighting in Marawi, the provincial capital of Lanao del Sur over 1,400 kilometers south of Manila.
It prompted President Rodrigo Duterte to declare martial law throughout the Mindanao region.
Authorities and residents look forward to Sunday, October 15, the military’s self-imposed target to retake Marawi from ISIS-inspired Maute terrorists.
The military, which has repeatedly revised deadlines to end the war, is hunting down at least 48 Maute fighters within a three-hectare area near Lake Lanao.
But the sound of explosions and gunshots cast doubts the crisis is nearing its end.
“Kung patapos na, bakit may nagpuputukan pa,” resident Maimona Macapaar Regaro said.
[Translation: If it’s about to end, why are there firefights still?]
The local crisis committee is assuring the residents they will immediately be informed when it is safe to return to their homes.
“They will inform us na tapos na, wala nang resistance diyan pero hanggang ngayon, meron pang pockets of resistance,” said Lanao del Sur Crisis Management Committee spokesperson Zia Alonto-Adiong.
[Translation: They will inform us if there is no more resistance.]
Once the war is over, the government faces the challenge of rebuilding Marawi, which will cost more than ₱50 billion, according to Duterte and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana.
A total of 160 government troops and 47 civilians were killed in the battle. A total of 817 Maute fighters have died.
