CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (MindaNews / 1 Feb) – Marawi leaders can now breathe a sigh of relief after the Senate passed the Marawi Siege Victims Compensation Act of 2021 (Senate Bill 2420) on Monday.
Residents search for items they could salvage from what is left of their house in Marawi City’s ‘Most Affected Area’ in this photo taken in 2018. MindaNews file photo by FROILAN GALLARDO
Now that the “agonizing wait” of thousands of Marawi residents is coming to an end, Meranaw leaders urged both the Senate and the House to convene a bicameral conference to reconcile their respective versions of the Marawi compensation bill.
“We are now a step closer to rebuilding whatever is left of our properties. Our urgent call is for the Senate and the House to convene and elect the bicam members,” said Drieza Liningding, leader of the Marawi Consensus Group.
The House of Representatives passed its own version, House Bill 9225 or the Marawi Compensation Act, last Sept. 6, 2021.
A bicam committee composed of members of the Senate and the House has to settle the conflicting versions of the two bills before President Rodrigo Duterte would sign it into law.
Liningding said they hoped President Duterte would sign it before the 17th Congress would adjourn in June.
The reconstruction of Marawi City is a source of tension and frustration among residents affected by the war between the government and Daesh-inspired militants in 2017.
The non-government organization International Alert, in its 2020 report, said close to 127,000 Marawi residents are still displaced or living in temporary shelters.
The NGO said many of the displaced residents are living with their relatives or friends and scattered all over the cities of Iligan, Cagayan de Oro, Davao, Cebu and Manila.
The Task Force Bangon Marawi (TFBM), a government agency tasked to rebuild the city, reported that 80 percent of the reconstruction of public facilities have been completed as of December 2021.
TFBM officials stressed that the money released by government are for the reconstruction of government infrastructures only, not for houses and buildings owned by residents.
As a result, areas in the 24 barangays in the “Most Affected Area” are still in ruins and have been taken over by vegetation.
“What is the use of new masjids if there are no people to pray in them?” Mindanao State University history professor Tirmizy Abdullah asked.
NGO worker Leah Tarhata Mehila noted that Marawi residents have been scattered all around the country. “Four years of suffering is enough,” she added.
Bangsamoro Transition Authority parliament member Zia Alonto Adiong said the Senate passage of SB 2420 is “a step towards the social healing of Marawi residents.”
“For so long the residents have suffered, and giving the money directly to the beneficiaries will lessen their frustrations,” he said.
Adiong said he is glad that the Senate and House bills provide mechanism where owners of properties that were demolished and destroyed during the five-month Marawi siege may file their claims for compensation.
Marawi leader and senatorial candidate Samira Gutoc said residents could demand payment from the incoming administration should the Marawi compensation bill is passed into law before the 17th Congress adjourns. (Froilan Gallardo / MindaNews)