MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Imee Marcos addressed the delay in Marawi City's rehabilitation on Thursday, calling on the government to hasten land titling efforts for the city's displaced evacuees.
Marcos admitted that the city's rehabilitation would continue to face further delays until the government worked out a proper course of action to facilitate the land titling. She asked defense officials for a comprehensive plan past clearing the wartorn city of any unexploded ordnances by the end of October, long past the original deadline August 30.
“Habang nakatiwangwang ang siyudad eh nawawalang gana at nadidismaya ang mga kapatid nating Muslim (Our Muslim brothers are becoming disappointed, as the city continues to lay bare),” the daughter of the former dictator said.
According to Marcos, he proposed Senate Bill 410 will grant the government lands as well as military reservation areas for displaced Marawi residents. The bill will also replace Task Force Bangon Marawi with a long-term Bangon Marawi Council chaired by the president himself.
Task Force Bangon Marawi was initially created in June 2017 as an inter-agency task force to facilitate the city's recovery efforts under Administrative Order No. 3.
The city descended into a battleground in May 2017 after a shootout erupted between military forces and the Maute and Abu Sayyaf Salafi jihadist groups, displacing its population of over 200,000 and marking the longest-lasting urban battle in the country's history.
Rehabilitation of Marawi City began in October of that year after the battle in the city ended. To date, around 50,000 people remain displaced.
The international community has donated over P37 million collectively to rehabilitation efforts. However, the city's residents claim that this sum has remained largely unused.