MANILA – Malacanang on Monday assured that the Task Force Bangon Marawi (TFBM) is addressing concerns by some residents in the planned Marawi rehabilitation.
Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Menardo Guevarra made this remark after a group of Marawi residents reportedly asked President Rodrigo R. Duterte to stop the proposed construction of an economic zone and a military camp in the war-torn city.
“I think it’s too early to say whether the President will act on that request,” Guevarra said in a Palace media briefing.
“We’ll leave it to the TFBM to consider that, to take that into account and to evaluate whether the existence or non-existence of a military camp inside Marawi City is advisable,” he added.
Guevarra said the task force also needs to evaluate “whether or not converting it into an economic zone will be for the betterment of the city or not”.
“That’s all for the Task Force to evaluate and decide on,” he added.
He believed that the residents will be given the opportunity to come up with their own proposals on the proposed Marawi rehabilitation.
“I doubt it very much whether, you know, the residents themselves of the city will not even be consulted in a manner by which their city will have to be rehabilitated,” Guevarra said.
“There are cultural, historical aspects that need to be respected and considered. So when you are restoring something, you are bringing it back to its condition before, of course with much improvement but essentially the essence of Marawi City as a Muslim City will have to be taken into account in the restoration process,” he added.
Guevarra expressed optimism that any misunderstanding will be settled between the Marawi residents and the task force.
At least PHP50 million will be initially needed to rebuild Marawi City, which was heavily damaged after a five-month war between government troops and ISIS-inspired groups last year.
The TFBM is still on the process of selecting a developer out of five companies that have so far expressed interest to rebuild the 250-hectare most affected areas of Marawi City.
President Rodrigo R. Duterte signed Administrative Order No. 9 in October 2017 creating the TFBM, which was tasked to implement a comprehensive and integrated rehabilitation program for Marawi City. (PNA)
