Marawi group to Marcos: Focus on displaced families, not just infrastructure

CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines – A Marawi-based civil society group, which advocates for effective rebuilding and fair compensation for those displaced by the 2017 Marawi siege, has called on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to do better in the government’s rehabilitation efforts for the city.

The Moro Consensus Group (MCG) expressed disappointment with Marcos’ brief mention of Marawi during his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, July 22, criticizing him for not providing a more detailed plan on expediting aid for thousands of displaced Marawi residents.

During the SONA, Marcos said, “In Marawi, the rehabilitation and rebuilding continue – now, under the supervision of the Office of the President. Our focus remains on restoring energy, water, and livable communities.”

MCG convenor Drieza Lininding told Rappler they were disappointed because they had waited for Marcos to say how the government would help the families who were displaced when the government launched extensive military operations against extremists attempting to establish a caliphate in Marawi seven years ago.

“It’s frustrating because we wanted him to say exactly how the government would make us, the families who lost their homes, rebuild,” Lininding said.

Last May, Lininding said many of the more than 200,000 displaced residents were still living in temporary shelters and villages outside Marawi, unable to return and rebuild.

Worse, many of the displaced families were already being asked to pay for their continued use of parcels of private land after contracts between the government and land owners expired.

He told Rappler on Monday afternoon that Marcos was focused on the number of government-undertaken infrastructure projects completed in Marawi rather than on how these benefited families displaced as a result of the five-month-long fighting between government forces and the Maute Group seven years ago.

“The buildings are empty. What are they for when they are not being used by people who have not yet returned to rebuild their homes?” said Lininding. He said the Marcos Jr. administration should shift its focus from mere infrastructure projects to the families still living miserable lives and in abject poverty in temporary shelters.

Government rehabilitation efforts were meaningless with many families still homeless and unable to return and rebuild, he said.

He added, “The government counts the buildings, but there is no power and water there. How would the government restore energy, water, and rebuild livable communities? The President did not say how and when. It’s ironic to see that just beside a new building constructed by the government is a bullet-riddled home destroyed in 2017.”

Lininding said fair compensation from the government remains a “big problem” that has yet to be resolved, leaving displaced families struggling as the Marawi Siege Victims Compensation Act of 2022 falls short of meeting their needs.

A congressional oversight committee has been reviewing the compensation law and the system’s inadequacies for possible reforms to effectively support the displaced Marawi population.

The government offers P35,000 per square meter for damaged concrete buildings and half that for wooden houses. Those who lost relatives in the fighting are entitled to receive P350,000 each.

The government has been criticized for inadequate compensation amounts given through the Marawi Compensation Board (MCB), which have been further undermined by inflation and rising construction material costs. This has resulted in several heavily damaged areas of Marawi remaining uninhabited.

As of May, the MCB has processed more than 20,000 claims and distributed more than P175 million since January. However, numerous victims find these amounts insufficient for rebuilding their homes.

The government has set aside around P2 billion for reparations, according to Lanao del Sur 1st District Representative Zia Alonto Adiong. 

Critics of the compensation package said the MCB’s use of outdated real estate assessments from the Lanao del Sur local government – rather than more recent evaluations – has led to insufficient payouts for many victims. – Rappler.com