Cash aid sought for displaced Marawi residents

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines — The government has been urged to provide cash assistance to displaced Marawi residents so they can immediately rebuild their homes destroyed in the fighting between the military and Maute forces last year.

The distribution of financial assistance will be advantageous to both the government and the residents, according to the Senate committee on urban planning, housing and resettlement.

Committee chair Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito yesterday said the residents might suffer the same fate as the survivors of typhoons Yolanda and Pablo, who have not been properly relocated due to the delay in the government’s housing projects.

“One option is to provide financial assistance so the residents can rebuild their houses faster. If you rely on the government to build the houses, it would take years. Just look at what happened to the victims of Yolanda and Pablo. Until now it has not been completed yet,” Ejercito said, referring to the delayed housing project.

Providing Marawi residents with financial assistance to reconstruct their houses will keep them busy and discourage them from joining extremist groups, he added.

“I think it can even pave the way to a lasting peace. The extremists will lose an instrument, an issue (they can use to recruit), if you rehabilitate Marawi properly,” Ejercito added.

Meanwhile, Task Force Bangon Marawi chief Eduardo del Rosario gave assurance that the government would not take away private properties from its owners.

Earlier, Marawi residents expressed fear that the government might take away their properties, which Del Rosario described as speculation and baseless.

He said the affected residents would be allowed to build structures on their properties.

The task force will create a land dispute arbitration committee to address issues on multiple claimants on a private property.

Marawi cathedral to be rebuilt

The 84-year-old St. Mary’s Cathedral, center of the Marawi diocese and home to Bishop Edwin de la Peña, is up for demolition and reconstruction.

De la Peña said he has given his consent for the reconstruction of the cathedral after it was deemed to be no longer structurally sound.

“We will rebuild the cathedral but only after they have rebuilt their city and their masjids. For the meantime, we are focusing our energies on rebuilding communities.”
The government’s rehabilitation and reconstruction of damaged infrastructures in Marawi is expected to start in June.

The clearing operations is expected to take up to 10 months. – With Edu Punay