THE country’s commitment to rehabilitate Marawi is yet to be felt. Or will there be any?
After the emergency disposal of the unexploded ordinance or ammunition last Wednesday, June 26, 2019, here in the ground zero of the most affected area of Marawi, people have started top doubt the commitment of the government towards rehabilitating the lives of the Marawi people. The explosion was unexpectedly louder and massive than the ammunitions during the siege. Most private houses and schools in front of the MAA were affected by the explosion. It even broke glasses, destroyed roofs and worse, it has renewed fear.
Are we really this desperate to demolish the buildings in the MAA area by resorting to blowing the UXOs under huge buildings? Is this how demolitions should be done? Are we that resilient and numb enough to just allow this to pass again?
Explanation is necessary and information dissemination is vital. To post via social media an announcement about the disposal few hours before is not realistic. We cannot depend on that alone. Yes, there was an announcement via the local government radio, but it is not enough too. People will be affected yet we take things lightly. The trauma of people does not just wither in few years. We cannot set aside emotions for it is the fuel to destruction.
As shared in one of the recent international conferences I have attended, hatred is formed out of ignorance. Most extremists were radicalized by the driving force of their imperiled search for identity, community and purpose. If we want to stop radicalization or at least minimize it in this part of the world, we have to repair our human infrastructure. Part of this structure is the proper information dissemination. What happened to Marawi started with information disorder; the havoc happened because of texts and social media; the misunderstandings and devalued involvement of organizations and individuals were also caused by mal-information. This is how significant is information. It can destroy a people and increase hatred amongst us.
Further, human infrastructure includes prioritizing the education of our youth. If we can empower our youth, we will be assured of a better future for them. Our children must not only learn core subjects in schools, but they needed proper values formation. Our classrooms should become a platform to share about social experience, respect and most of all peace. It should be a place for dialogue. Their total humanity must be developed and must be given focus if we want their future to be secure.
Just a quick note though, education of our youth is not just learned in the classroom. It is learned from home. Parents have the grandest role in molding the youth. Parents have the role to make them ready for the real world.
For my Marawi, we can just hope that through proper information and education of the youth, we can do away with the possible radicalizations in the future.