Duterte plan to purge Lanao execs seen to hamper Marawi rehab

MARAWI CITY — President Rodrigo Duterte’s plan “to purge” Lanao del Sur of officials who allegedly failed to help the government stop Islamic State-inspired terrorists here would make things more difficult for the besieged city and its displaced residents, an official said.

Zia Alonto Adiong, the spokesperson for the Lanao del Sur Crisis Management Committee, told reporters that the President’s plan was saddening because it could affect rehabilitation efforts which were about to start.

“We have already established coordination with the military and we are now in the stage of early recovery. It would be prudent to work with city officials and other local government units rather than go after them,” Adiong said.

In a speech during the recent groundbreaking ceremony for a housing project for Army Scout Rangers in San Miguel, Bulacan, Duterte called to task certain Lanao del Sur officials for failing to provide the military information about tunnels in the city.

The military has said the tunnels were among the structures that have slowed down the advance of soldiers into the main battle areas.

City’s drainage system

“I think I’ll have to purge them,” Duterte said.

However, Adiong said some of the supposed tunnels and culverts were actually part of the city’s drainage system, and the national government could verify this with the City Engineer’s Office.

“Nobody really actually knew what was the tactical operation of the Maute group. Nobody actually had any idea before that they would use the culverts and mobilize their [fighters] underground,” he said.

Adiong urged the national government to instead focus on and proceed with the early recovery of the city and its displaced residents.

“I guess purging the LGUs (local government units) would be a distraction to our efforts,” he added.

He said the city’s reconstruction would be more difficult if the government focused on running after the officials.

Lanao del Sur Vice Gov. Mamintal Adiong Jr. said they were still trying to consolidate recommendations on how to rebuild the city.

Adiong made the statement in reaction to the military’s announcement that it had at least three options to rehabilitate the country’s only Islamic city.

First option

Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez, the commander of the Western Mindanao Command, said the first option was to rebuild damaged structures so that

the city could retain its presiege appearance.

“There is a suggestion to just restore the damaged buildings,” he said during a briefing here on Wednesday.

Another option, he said, is to relocate residents, whose properties were damaged in the fighting, to new homes in another area.

“It’s not the whole of Marawi. Those affected are in the main battle area. I talked to local officials and they said more than 10,000 households were severely affected,” Galvez said.

The third option, he said, is to build an entire new city in another area and leave the destroyed areas of Marawi as a reminder of the war.

Post-conflict scenarios

Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner Jr., the deputy commander of the Joint Task Group Ranao, said the military was working on plans for post-conflict scenarios such as the return of displaced residents, even for visitation only.

He said the government’s Post-Conflict Assessment Teams were to arrive on Saturday.

“By next week, they will be starting with the post-conflict assessment, starting from the cleared areas and moving toward the current main battle areas,” Brawner said.

Adiong said they were also told that some displaced residents would be allowed to return to their homes to retrieve important belongings they had left behind when the fighting started on May 23.

“The house visits will be allowed and will cover the controlled area. This will allow our residents to get their belongings from their houses,” Adiong said. —Allan Nawal, Jeoffrey Maitem, and Richel Umel