Martial law won’t speed up Marawi rehab, says group

DESTRUCTION ALL AROUND Officials overseeing the rehabilitation of Marawi City following a five-month fighting between government troops and terrorists estimate that it will take years to complete the rebuilding of the Lanao del Sur provincial capital. —JEOFFREY MAITEM

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—A group of concerned residents of Marawi has refuted the military’s claims that martial law would fast track the rebuilding of the battle-scarred city.

Drieza Lininding, chair of the Moro Consensus Group (MCG), said that the declaration of martial law over Mindanao had no basis and only made people afraid to speak their mind.

“The idea that martial law will speed up the rehabilitation effort in Marawi is baseless and unfounded,” Lininding said.

His group is proposing instead the declaration of a state of calamity in Marawi and Lanao del Sur so that residents can access government funds.

“How can you fast-track [rehabilitation of Marawi] if you only allocate P5 billion in the national budget for 2018? We do not see the connection of martial law to the rehabilitation of Marawi,” he said.

Lininding was reacting to a statement by the military last week that martial law would facilitate the rehabilitation efforts because the government would have full control of the area.

He also said there was no reason for the Duterte administration to place Mindanao under martial law “because what happened in Marawi City was an act of terrorism,” not rebellion or invasion—the two basis for the declaration of martial law under the constitution. —JIGGER J. JERUSALEM