Pass the Marawi compensation bill now

As the Senate moves closer to finishing the 18th Congress, there are growing doubts among the Maranao that the compensation bill is forthcoming and if there is still time to include this in the 2022 budget. You cannot blame us for harboring these uncertainties—we have been subjected to numerous lies and false promises by the same agencies charged with our rehabilitation and recovery. It is worrying to see how, despite their avowed support for the compensation bill, they have come up empty.

So, after four years and two months, with billions of pesos spent by the government, including donors worldwide, the most that can be shown are a few cemented roads, an unfinished water and sewerage system, and some government structures that barely operate. Every day that passes erodes our hope in seeing the rehabilitation of our lives and properties, the restoration of our culture, and the reconstruction of our beloved city. What we see instead is the magnitude of incompetence, inequalities, and corruption that beleaguered the rebuilding process from the start.

Have we been taken for a ride? We still remember the VIPs who rushed to Marawi to have their pictures taken, bring relief goods, say a few kind words on our behalf, and make bold promises to make Marawi great again. Where are they now?

The abject failure of Task Force Bangon Marawi (TFBM) to rehabilitate our city adds salt to our wound. TFBM stated with certainty that it could finish “at least 95 percent of all major infra projects by June 2022.” It rings hollow. We have heard this before.

Lest they forget, as well, physical infrastructures are not the measure of our real rehabilitation. The dire situation of shelters, educational facilities, and people’s livelihoods matter more to us and is far from being half complete. Rehabilitation is not only about structures; but about people. To finally go home to rebuild our lives, with the means to do so from the just compensation we demand, is the ultimate justice for us.

The only decent thing that the government can do now is to pay us what it owes us for being the ultimate victims of a war not of our own making. If you cannot do your jobs with competence, integrity, and a deadline to meet, then let us do the heavy lifting and let us do it ourselves. Remove yourselves from Marawi, and let us in. We demand the immediate release of building permits to all applicants residing in the MAA. We demand the immediate removal of all barriers to our return to rebuild our homes.

We are afraid that the delays and frustrations we feel may be tapped by others bent on seizing influence and control over our people, especially our youth. People’s grievances turn into anger, and a growing sense of unfairness and injustice hangs over those who have not returned to their homes. Some have benefitted at the expense of the many by making claims on land that the displaced, whether rich or poor, previously occupied. Others have had their private structures prioritized and rebuilt by the government, even as IDPs in temporary shelters have nowhere to go by 2023, the end of the public-private lease agreement covering their resettlement areas. All of these expose the looming land and identity-based conflicts that lurk behind the tragedy of Marawi that may be weaponized by violent extremist groups and other actors with vested interests.

We now pin our hopes on our senators and representatives. We deeply appreciate our legislators’ efforts to do right by us. However, less than 12 session days remain to pass the Marawi compensation bill, plus the budget that hopefully includes a portion of our compensation. We call on the Senate, especially the authors of Senate Bill 2420, to ensure its passage and that it is adequately paid for in the 2022 budget before the session adjourns on Feb. 4. We are watching you with hope and prayers.

It has been a long and arduous journey, but we continue to fight because we know this is the last thing we can hold on to. We call on President Duterte to support the Marawi compensation bill. Finally, we call on the people of Marawi City to exert one final effort to pressure this government to compensate us for the destruction wrought on our city. It is the only thing to hope for. Nothing else remains.

The authors are founding members of the Marawi Reconstruction Conflict Watch, an independent multi-stakeholder dialogue group of professionals, experts, and network leaders who have collectively monitored and assessed the reconstruction and rehabilitation of Marawi since 2018.