THE opposition Liberal Party on Tuesday urged the government to lift the martial law decree imposed on Mindanao, claiming it was preventing Marawi City from healing the wounds inflicted by the Maute attack last year.

In a statement, the erstwhile ruling party pointed out that the congressional hearings on the President’s martial law declaration revealed that there was no rebellion in Mindanao that warranted the extension of the decree to December 2018.

Threats of a rebellion are present, but do not qualify as the Constitution only provides for martial law in the presence of a rebellion or an invasion, it said.





The party also said the government should “put their money where their mouth is” and focus more on providing

26,000 permanent shelters for Marawi citizens.

So far, only 1,000 temporary shelters have been built for the affected communities, it claimed.

It also noted that the presence of two Chinese contractors – China State Construction Engineering Corp. and China Geo Engineering Corp. – in rehabilitation efforts, as the two Chinese companies were blacklisted by the World Bank in 2009 for allegedly violating regulations and for supposed corruption.

‘70% of Marawi back to normal’

Malacañang however expressed satisfaction with the efforts to rehabilitate Marawi City, saying majority of the residents were back in the war-torn city.

In a news conference, Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said the government was ahead in the provision of temporary and permanent shelters for Marawi residents displaced by fighting between the military and local terrorists.

“The good news is, as far as the residents are concerned, 70 percent of the residents have gone back to their homes…That is under a year’s time. We are even ahead of schedule in terms of rebuilding of the communities,” he said.

The government aims to build a total of 6,400 temporary shelters and 2,500 permanent shelters to be given to the poorest and most conflict-affected Marawi residents, he said.

Col. Romeo Brawner Jr., deputy commander for Joint Task Force Ranao, said on Tuesday that 70 percent of the whole city had “returned to normal.”

Moreover, 85 percent of the city has been cleared of bombs, which will pave the way for developers to enter the main battle area and start rehabilitation.

Roque said President Rodrigo Duterte was slated to visit Marawi City to mark the first anniversary of the attack.

Duterte declared Marawi liberated in October last year after government troops killed terrorist leaders Isnilon

Hapilon and Omar Maute following a five-month armed conflict.

More than 1,000 people, mostly terror fighters, died amid the clashes.

Over 100,000 children remain displaced in Marawi City, a year after the siege, the United Nations Children’s Fund or Unicef reported on Tuesday.

Never again

Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Gov. Mujiv Hataman said that what happened to Marawi City, the lone Islamic City of the Philippines, on May 23, 2017 should not happen again.

The center of Marawi City, once a melting pot of different histories, cultures, and beliefs has been reduced to rubble, he said.

Because of this, Hataman said the rest of the constituents of the ARMM, where Marawi City is a component city, should stand united.

“We must stand united with our brothers and sisters, as we have done in response to every threat our people have faced,” Hataman said.

WITH JULMUNIR I. JANNARAL, CATHERINE S. VALENTE, ARIC JOHN SY CUA AND DEMPSEY REYES