ARMM has P150M to help rebuild Marawi

• Source: https://businessmirror.com.ph/armm-has-p150m-to-help-rebuild-marawi/
• Monday, February 12, 2018

By Manuel Cayon

DAVAO CITY—Ravaged Marawi City could tap into the unprogrammed funds of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) amounting to P150 million, which its regional governor committed to help rebuild the lakeside city after a five-month battle to free it from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis)-linked Maute Group late last year.

The ARMM disclosed this to assuage the displaced residents who were seeking the immediate reconstruction of their houses and places of economic activities.

The amount is outside the committed allocation of the national government, with initial fund reaching P10 billion, Gov. Mujiv Hataman said.

He disclosed this as he announced the construction of the first public market ever in the town of Bubong, an adjacent town of Marawi City, where more than 2,000 families sought safe refuge after fleeing Marawi City on May 23, 2017.

The ARMM held the groundbreaking ceremony of the public market on Friday in Bubong. Hataman said he hoped this would benefit the more than 13,000 residents displaced by the Marawi siege.

Hataman said the public market was worth P30 million and would sprawl inside an area with the size of one-and-a-half hectares.

The market would have 100 stalls and be constructed in 240 days.

“The public market opens additional economic activities in the town and in the entire First District of Lanao del Sur since these areas have no formal marketplace,” he said. “It will mainly cater to displaced residents of Marawi City who have sought refuge in the town.”

In disclosing the availability of funds to help rebuild Marawi City, Hataman said he attended numerous consultation dialogues with the displaced individuals “to hear grievances from the grassroots.”

“The consultations would help make a well-informed decision for the projects and assistance that will facilitate in uplifting the lives of displaced Marawi residents,” he added.

Among the groups he consulted was the biggest organized group of evacuees from Marawi City, the Sowara O Miamagoyag, which claims to represent more than 12,000 households which evacuated to towns of Lanao del Sur, Lanao del Norte and Misamis Oriental, and to the cities of Iligan and Cagayan de Oro. The group has been active in promoting the welfare of its members.

The ARMM Bureau of Public Information quoted one Sittie Joharah Pacalindo-Mamacotao, 27, a leader of the group who hailed from Barangay Marinaut of Marawi City. Mamacotao said the displaced residents “should be supported on their immediate needs of recovery to enable dignified survival.”

“We want to become their representatives to amplify their voice,” Mamacotao added. The group recommended “reparation and compensation for property damage; livelihood; recovery and access to employment; shelter; participatory, transparent and accountable planning of Marawi rehabilitation, and land dispute resolutions.”

“I believe the Maranaos would be able to recover if they help each other well,” Hataman told the leaders of the evacuees.

He said the regional government and the provincial government of Lanao del Sur would join together to build “an integrated public market and rehabilitate the terminal at the Greater Marawi Area in Marawi City this year costing P90 million.”