THE tears burned on the eyes of Sittie Almairah Pangarungan Daud wetting the veil of the black hijab she was wearing.
“I might lose my chance in owning a house. My four children will not have a home,” Daud said at a sheltered rotunda in downtown Marawi.
Police have dispersed Daud and here fellow bakwits or Internally Displaced Persons — around 500 of them — when they staged a rally to push the Senate to pass the Marawi Compensation Bill.
“The police took our tarps and placards, and threatened the IDPs with detention,” Marawi Consensus Group leader Drieza Liningding said.
Not wanting trouble, Drieza said, the IDPs decided not to continue the rally and went home peacefully.
The lower house already passed its version of the measure, House Bill No. 9925, last Sept. 6, providing compensation to owners for the loss and damages of their properties during the five-month fighting in Marawi City in 2017.
The Senate version is still languishing with the Special Committee on Marawi Rehabilitation chaired by Senator Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa.
With the looming 2022 elections ahead, Marawi leaders fear that the Senate would run out of time in passing the all-too-important compensation bill.
“We have no other option but to urge the Senate to pass the compensation bill. So many property owners are depending on the bill so they can start rebuilding their houses and buildings,” Sultan of Marawi Hamidullah Atar said.
Atar said they fear that many of the senators who are running in the 2022 elections would be distracted because they would become busy campaigning.
He said it would be convenient if President Rodrigo Duterte will cite it as an urgent bill before he steps down in 2022.
In his State of the Nation Address last July 26, President Duterte names 12 priority bills for Congress but the Marawi Compensation Bill was not mentioned.
Daud said she and her four children have been living with their relatives since 2017 after her house and store were gutted during the five months fighting between government troops and the Daesh-inspired Maute militants in Marawi city.
She said she had applied for a building permit and reparations with the local government of Marawi last year.
But until now, Daud said there is no word whether her application was approved or not.
“I am afraid that the mercy of my relatives would run out and we will be thrown out to the streets,” the 37-year-old Daud said.
Daud, who is separated from her husband, said she longed for her life before the fighting destroyed most of the buildings and houses in Marawi City.
“I have a house and a small store. My children have a bedroom where they can play,” she said.
Daud said she and her children now live in a small window-less room.
The United Nations High Commissioner for refugees in its May 2020 report said more than 120,000 residents still live in temporary shelters that dotted the outskirts of Marawi City.
The report said the IDPs living in these shelters continue to face difficulty in accessing basic services and are in need of protection.
It said among its pressing needs are water, livelihood, and information.
Khadijah Ibra, 27, said their shelter in Barangay Sagonsongan, Marawi City receives seven truckloads of water a week.
Ibra, a part-time teacher, said 215 families share the precious water among themselves.
“The water is not enough for all of us. Sometimes the trucks break down and can not deliver water,” she said.
Ibra said the lack of water heightens the risk of Covid-19 infection of the IDP families who live together in cramped, small spaces of their temporary shelters.
“We barely have enough water to bathe, wash our hands, clothes, and utensils, “ Ibra said.
To get more water, Ibra said IDP families have resorted to buying from private contractors who deliver water to their community.
She said five big bottles or containers at P20 each are enough drinking water for her family.
Ibra said her family of ten brothers and their children squeezed in a small concrete house in the Sagonsongan temporary shelter.
She said they signed a five-year contract with the National Housing Authority after which, they have to vacate the house.
“We have two more years to go and then we will find ourselves out on the streets,” Ibra said.
Like the others, Ibra said they have applied for a building permit from the Marawi City government to rebuild their house that was destroyed in Barangay Raya Mandaya.
Until now, Ibra said they receive no word if their application has been approved.
In his visit to Marawi City last October 16, President Duterte reassured that the government “is doing its best” to complete the rehabilitation of the city before his term ends in 2022.
Task Force Bangon Marawi (TFBM) Chairman Secretary Eduardo del Rosario assured President Duterte that 70to 75 percent of the rehabilitation work has already been completed.
TFBM Field Office Manager Assistant Secretary Felix Castro Jr., said while construction for the government projects is nearly completed, houses and buildings owned by Marawi residents have not been started.
Castro said there is no money available to compensate the owners of the houses and buildings destroyed in the fighting.
“The Marawi compensation bill should cover the destruction of houses and buildings because the government has no money for them,” he said.
Castro said more than 2,372 residents have applied for permits to rebuild their houses at their own expense.
He said the local government of Marawi has given permits to 1,113 owners and 389 of them have started rebuilding their houses mostly in sections 1,2 & 3 in the Most Affected Area (MAA).
“The local government is careful in providing permits because many of the lands were found to have multiple owners,” Castro said.
Bangsamoro Transition Authority Deputy Speaker Zia Adiong cited the land that used to be the Barangay Padian where Isis militant leaders Isnilon Hapilon and Omar Maute were killed.
Adiong said the land is part of a government project that reclaimed parts of Lanao Lake.
“How can that land have private owners when it is a reclamation project. They may have the titles for it but it is clear that they are dubious,” he said.
Castro said they have completed the construction of five mosques in Marawi City including the Grand Mosque and Bato mosque where the militants kept Father Teresito Soganub and other hostages.
He said 20 kilometers of the Marawi Transcentral Road have already been completed as well.
Sultan Atar said they would, however, continue to rally on the streets to air their grievances on the way the government handled the rehabilitation.
“What use would these new government infrastructures and mosques, if there are no people to use it,” he said.
(This story is supported by a grant by the Philippine Press Institute)
