By hook or by crook, residents back in Marawi by end of year, compensation bill to complete rehabilitation

SENATOR Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa is pushing for the passage of the bill seeking to compensate the residents of war-torn Marawi City as the final step of the government to fully rehabilitate the city.

During the hearing of the Committee on Finance headed by Senator Sonny Angara on the Marawi Compensation Bills on Friday, Dela Rosa, chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Marawi City Rehabilitation and one of the authors of Senate Bill No. 1395 or the Marawi Siege Victims Compensation Act, emphasized the need to enact the said measure to help the residents of Marawi rebuild their lives.

"Ang nakataya po sa panukalang ito ay ang maayos na pagbabalik at pagsisimula ng panibagong buhay ng ating mga kababayan sa kanilang magandang lungsod ng Marawi. Kaya naman, kahit mayroon ng building permits na inaprubahan ng pamahalaang lokal ng Marawi, hindi sila makapagsimula ng pagpapatayo ng kanilang mga bahay. Ang problema - wala silang panggastos para sa materyales na bubuo muli ng kanilang bagong tahanan," Dela Rosa said.

"Kasama ng mga gumuhong bahay sa gitna ng putukan ay ang kanilang mga pinagkukunan ng kabuhayan. Kung kaya't mas nararapat na mapabilisan ang pagpasa ng panukalang batas na ito, upang sila ay matulungan na magsimula muli," the former top cop said further.

The Mindanaoan Senator shared that he is directly being asked by Marawi residents about the status of the measure.

"I completely agree with Sec. Del Rosario when he declared that without the approval of the Marawi Compensation Bill, Marawi rehabilitation will not be 100% complete," Dela Rosa said.

Dela Rosa's special committee also conducted a hearing last Tuesday to update the Senate of the status of the ongoing reconstruction of the city and the utilization of rehabilitation funds. During the hearing, Task Force Bangon Marawi Chairperson, Secretary Del Rosario, reported that almost 85% of construction projects for the rehabilitation have been completed. However, majority of the Marawi siege victims are still in temporary shelters.

"I can just summarize it (hearing) into two sentences. The first sentence is everybody wants to go back to the main affected area... Yung mga internally displaced people of Marawi ay gusto nang bumalik. At isang sentence naman as a summary is the government side is taking its due diligence to make sure that the comeback of these people is in a very orderly manner para walang mangyayaring problema in the future," Dela Rosa on Tuesday.

"We have to work together para sa ating mga kababayan dyan sa Marawi. Wala na akong maraming flowery words pa na sasabihin, 'By hook or by crook,' they have to go back to their homes, and I think everyone is in agreement to that," Dela Rosa added.

The former PNP Chief also reminded Del Rosario about the government's promise that Marawi will rise again by the end of the year.

"I just would like to remind... Secretary Del Rosario... of his promise that Marawi shall have been risen again by the end of this year, December 2021. So, he is showing me his thumbs up and was even insistent that we go to Marawi to see for ourselves yung mga ginagawa," Dela Rosa said in closing during the Tuesday hearing.