Zambo rehab project faces more delays

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines - Efforts to rebuild the devastated district continued to lag behind two years after the deadly Zamboanga City siege of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in September 2013, according to local official.

The local government said thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) will have to remain in the temporary shelters as construction of the housing units is still ongoing.

Mayor Ma. Isabelle Climaco-Salazar said only about 30 to 40 percent of the 6,000 permanent shelters have been turned over to the displaced victims.

Salazar said other constructed permanent housing units lack sanitation provision.

“So that (difficulty) is what we are encountering,” Salazar said.

The early recovery committee, particularly the shelter cluster met with the United Nations (UN) and sought for continued assistance of providing dignified temporary housing to the displaced families.

Salazar said the city will commemorate the second year of the siege with a simple mass for the victims, soldiers and police who died during the attack.

Meanwhile, the city government will not consider any plea bargain against more than 200 captured MNLF rebels who participated in the siege.

“We will push through with the cases even if there are more than 200 MNLF facing the case,” Salazar said. “Little by little, the Department of Justice, through the prosecutors, tries to provide certain provisions and leeway for the accused but we will keep on fighting, particularly with the city legal office on the helm.”

The accused MNLF rebels, currently detained in Bicutan, including its founder Nur Misuari who remained at large, were charged with rebellion and violation of international humanitarian law, genocide and other crimes of humanity.

Some of the rebels have earlier sought for plea bargaining agreement for lesser charges against them.