Ejercito: Give Marawi IDP cash to rebuild their homes

IN ORDER not to worsen the suffering of displaced Marawi residents, it would be best if the government will just give them cash to immediately help rebuild homes destroyed by the fighting, a lawmaker said.

Senator Joseph Victor ‘JV’ Ejercito said his committee is considering that option as it would be advantageous to both the government and internally displaced persons (IDPs) of Marawi.

Ejercito chairs the Senate committee on urban planning, housing and resettlement.

Ejercito, who attended the graduation rites of a state-run university recently, said he doesn’t want the Marawi residents experience the same plight of the survivors of past calamities like Pablo and Yolanda who until now have not been properly relocated because of the delay of the government in finishing the housing projects for them.

“One option is to provide financial assistance to the Marawi victim to [rebuild] their homes, to make it faster. If you rely on government to build the houses, it would take years. Just look what happened to Yolanda and Pablo. Until now ‘di pa rin tapos (it has not been completed yet),” he said.

By providing the Marawi residents with the financial assistance to reconstruct their dwellings, the senator said it would satisfy the need of the IDPs and discourage them from joining extremist groups.

“I think it can even pave the way to lasting peace. The extremist will lose an instrument, an issue [they can use to recruit], if you rehabilitate Marawi properly,” Ejercito added.

Meanwhile, in an interview during his latest visit to Marawi, Eduardo Del Rosario, the Task Force Bangon Marawi (TBFM) head has assured that the government will not take away private lots, both titled and non-titled, from their owners.

The TBFM chief calls these fears of the Marawi residents as “speculation” and “has not basis at all.”

Del Rosario said the affected civilians will be allowed to build structures on their lots and that TBFM is creating a land dispute arbitration committee to address the issue of multiple claimants on a single private property.

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