Displaced Marawi folk oppose CA confirmation of rehab manager as new housing secretary

ILIGAN CITY——A group of displaced residents of Marawi City has asked members of the Commission on Appointments (CA) to bypass the confirmation of Eduardo del Rosario as secretary of the newly created Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD).

Drieza Lininding, convenor of the Moro Consensus Group (MCG), said Del Rosario must be made to answer first for the “sufferings of Marawi IDPs (internally displaced persons).”

Lininding cited the failure of the Task Force Bangon Marawi (TFBM), headed by Del Rosario, to ensure the return of displaced Marawi residents into their war-ravaged communities so they can rebuild their lives.

Lininding also said that TFBM, which had been formed to supervise the rehabilitation of Marawi and the return of its residents, failed to account for the needs of evacuees who live with relatives and those who refused to stay in government evacuation camps because of squalid conditions.

More than two years after the government fought a war to free the city of Islamic State terrorists in 2017, families. uprooted from their homes in the so-called most affected area (MAA) have yet to return.

Some of the families had already started to rebuild their houses after getting building permits from the local government.

But the MAA still has no electricity and potable water supply services.

Lininding said in areas where families have consented to the government demolishing their damaged houses, markers that could help identify individual home lots, like concrete footings of buildings, had disappeared.

Del Rosario made it appear at the recent public hearing of the Senate’s special committee on Marawi rehab, chaired by Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, that everything was alright, Lininding said.

Marawi had turned into a battleground between Philippine soldiers and IS terrorists from May to October 2017.

Displaced people of Marawi held on to a promise made by Dela Rosa’s committee to work out a dialogue between the residents and President Rodrigo Duterte “to iron out things about the delay of rehab and return of Marawi residents.”

“Until proven that Secretary Del Rosario is not guilty or the question of his competence has nothing to do with the delay, we pray for his non-confirmation,” Lininding said.

Edited by TSB