Task force reiterates Marawi rehab timeline on track

Del Rosario said the TFBM’s 56 implementing member agencies have been providing social interventions for the displaced residents affected by the Marawi siege including the provision of financial aid, healthcare services, educational support, and psychosocial healing interventions. (File photo: Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development/Facebook)

MANILA – Secretary Eduardo del Rosario, Task Force Bangon Marawi (TFBM) chairman and housing czar, on Friday reiterated that the rehabilitation of the war-torn city would be completed based on the timeline indicated in the Marawi master development plan and comprehensive reconstruction plan.

“With regards to the rehabilitation efforts, the government, through the TFBM—is on track. We will finish the rehabilitation by December 2021,” del Rosario said during the Bangon Marawi virtual presser, as he provided updates on the government’s efforts in the Marawi rehabilitation and presented a virtual tour of Marawi City.

Del Rosario said the TFBM’s 56 implementing member agencies have been providing social interventions for the displaced residents affected by the Marawi siege including the provision of financial aid, healthcare services, educational support, and psychosocial healing interventions.

According to the TFBM, various assistance was given to the 49,785 displaced families in the area.

They were provided with relief assistance, health services, and psychosocial support.

These displaced families were also relocated to safer and more decent transitory shelters.

The government has sustained these interventions along with several peace dialogues and interventions, since Marawi’s liberation against the terrorist group, was declared in October 2017, del Rosario said.

The government also revived the livelihood of affected residents to help them recover economically from the five-month-long siege in the city, he added.

Infra projects

Meanwhile, del Rosario said the simultaneous construction of the vertical and horizontal projects went full blast amid the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.

“As we speak, massive construction works for various major and infrastructure projects are ongoing based on the timeline and methodology under the Marawi master development plan in the most affected area (MAA) and the comprehensive reconstruction plan for the whole city,” he said.

These infrastructure projects within the city’s most devastated area include the construction of road networks with solar lamps and underground utilities, ‘Grand Padian’ market with ice plants, integrated school buildings, barangay complexes with madrasah, and health centers, as well as the Marawi museum.

The TFBM has already completed and officially inaugurated the construction of the Marawi maritime outpost of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Banggolo bridge, and Mapandi bridge.

Also, the task force is set to repair three mosques through the incentivized use of housing developers’ escrow funds of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) and other private developers.

Del Rosario earlier said the task force has allocated PHP4.39-million funds to rebuild the Masjid Darussalam in Barangay Raya Madaya.

The Masjid Disomangcop in Barangay Daguduban will be funded amounting to PHP 12.25 million and the White Mosque in Barangay Lumbac Madaya will be reconstructed with PHP15.5 million allotment fund.

He said the reconstruction of the mosques could help the social healing and recovery of the residents affected by the armed conflict.

On the other hand, Del Rosario said the TFBM targets Marawi to become one of the country’s most competitive cities after ten years, once the government has completed all exerted efforts to rehabilitate the war-torn city.

“You can count on the government to transform Marawi into a vibrant and modern Islamic city,” he said.

Del Rosario assured the Marawi residents that rehabilitation efforts will be completed within the term of President Rodrigo Duterte.

“We intend to make the Mrawi rehabilitation as a catalyst for growth and sustainable development, a model for good governance and a template to achieve peaceful environment,” said del Rosario.