Push Admin

95 percent completion of Marawi rehab eyed when Duterte admin ends

Article (news)

ABS-CBN News

<div>Video courtesy of PTV </div>The government eyes completing 95 percent of Marawi&#x27;s rehabilitation by the end of President Rodrigo Duterte&#x27;s term in June, some five years since a battle between pro-Islamic State militants and state forces left the southern city in ruins, an official said Thursday.Housing Secretary Eduardo Del Rosario pegged the rehabilitation&#x27;s overall progress at 85 percent as of December last year.“We will finish at least 95 percent of all the infrastructure projects by June 30 of 2022,” he said in a televised public briefing. “Iyong remaining 5 percent, itutuloy na lamang dahil ang pondo naman ay nakapaloob sa mga implementing agencies, at hindi natin masasabi na sabay-sabay matatapos dahil ang pondo po natin every year ang allocation,” added the official. (The remaining 5 percent will just be continued because the funds are embedded anyway in implementing agencies, and we cannot say that the projects will be completed simultaneously because our funds are allocated yearly.)<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="President Rodrigo Duterte Presidential Photo/File" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/news/10/17/20211016-duterte-marawi-rebuilding-efforts-mnib3-2.jpg"/><figcaption>President Rodrigo Duterte looks at the a miniature model of the terrain of Marawi City as National Housing Authority General Manager Marcelino Escalada Jr. shows the location of the ongoing projects under the Marawi Rehabilitation Program during the commemoration of the 4th Anniversary of the liberation of Marawi from terrorist influence at the Rizal Park in Marawi, Lanao del Sur on Oct. 16, 2021. Toto Lozano, Presidential Photo/File</figcaption></figure></div>Del Rosario&#x27;s remarks contradict his previous pronouncement, and that of then Presidential spokesman Harry Roque in May last year that &quot;the target can be met that Marawi will be completely rebuilt at the end of the term of the President.&quot;<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/news/05/24/21/duterte-marawi-seige-4th-anniversary">READ: Palace confident that Marawi &#x27;completely rebuilt&#x27; before Duterte steps down</a></li></ul>In March 2019, Del Rosario said they expect the rehabilitation to be completed by December of 2021, even as he noted that &quot;our timetable for completion will be within the term of President Duterte.&quot;During Thursday&#x27;s press briefing, Del Rosario said 5,000 transitory shelters and 700 permanent shelters have been completed. He said the Marawi city government was supposed to release last month 1,500 building permits, which are required for displaced persons to return to the area most affected by the war. &quot;We expect that by first the quarter of this year, more IDPs (internally displaced person) will be coming in to repair or reconstruct their respective houses,&quot; Del Rosario said. &quot;Ang issue sa most affected area, hindi nakabalik agad [ang mga tao] dahil walang kuryente, walang tubig. Full blast yung road network construction and different public infrastructure. Matatapos na iyong road networks, at ginagawa na iyong electric and water facilities,” he added. (The issue with the most affected area is people couldn&#x27;t go back immediately because there was no electricity, no water. And the construction of the road network and public infrastructure was full blast. The road networks are almost finished, and the electric and water facilities are being repaired.)He said authorities also had to resolve issues with land ownership. Some land owners no longer wanted tenants to rebuild their houses, he said. “Maraming problema on the ground. And we would like to ensure, at the end of the day, we would not be blamed for allowing some personalities na magtayo ng bahay, hindi naman sila ang may-ari ng lupa,” said the housing chief. (There are many problems on the ground. And we would like to ensure, at the end of the day, we would not be blamed for allowing some personalities to build houses when they do not own the land.)A civic group said last year that Duterte may leave office with the rehabilitation of the war-torn Marawi City still not complete.&quot;Most probably. &#x27;Yan ang personal ko na basa, with the situation ngayon, &#x27;yung pacing ng TFBM (Task Force Bangon Marawi),&quot; Saripada &quot;Tong&quot; Pacasum Jr., a member of Marawi Reconstruction Conflict Watch, said in a TeleRadyo interview last July.(That&#x27;s my personal reading, with the situation now and the pacing of TFBM.)The Marawi crisis led by members of the IS-inspired Maute group began in May 2017 and dragged on until October of that year, displacing residents and destroying the city.

Government eyes completing 95 percent of Marawi's rehabilitation by the end of President Rodrigo Duterte's term in June, an official said.