An Appeal to President Duterte

MARAWI SULTANATE LEAGUE

Marawi City, Philippines

AN APPEAL TO PRESIDENT DUTERTE

1. The Marawi Battle between the Maute/ISIS armed men and the Armed Forces of the Philippines has killed hundreds if not thousands of people including innocent women and children. It has damaged countless homes and properties and destroyed their livelihood. It has rendered tens-of-thousand civilian evacuees or Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) homeless who suffer from hunger, humiliation, physical pains and mental torture, even as a considerable number of residents are still trapped in the war-torn city. 

2. In sum, the fight has totally devastated Marawi (the only Islamic city in the country) and her people of almost three-hundred thousand, that ever never had happened in our history. The once vibrant and lively city which has the best climate in the world and overlooking the beautiful mystical lake, Lanao (source of power that energizes about a two-third of the Island of Mindanao) is now almost a ghost town.

3. The Marawi Sultanate League, an aggrupation of peace-loving traditional royal leaders of the City, is not spared from this extreme violence. All of us including our families and relatives are also victims. We had to flee and left our homes and properties behind, bringing with us practically nothing as the cruel circumstances would only allow. We have also relatives killed, wounded, trapped or displaced.

4. We in the Marawi Sultanate League CONDEMN IN THE STRONGEST TERM this heinous devastating battle perpetrated by lawless armed group/s most of whom are said to be coming from other areas in Mindanao and abroad.

5. We believe that something MUST BE DONE, and in behalf of the good people of Marawi, and of the entire Maranao People, we fervently and strongly ask the government –

a. To immediately cease from air strikes and artillery bombardment of the city as they have affected a lot of innocent people.

b. In honor of the Holy Month Ramadan, to immediately end the war so that residents can go back to their very homes.

c. To immediately rescue those who are trapped in the war, send immediately the sick and old-aged and children to hospitals or medical centers for treatment physically and psychologically.

d. To extend special educational financial assistance to the children of the IDPs and victims as school classes are to open now and let them enroll in schools located in safe and peaceful localities.

e. To increase the relief goods and supplies to evacuees as reports said food and other relief supplies are lacking and thousands of IDPs are not provided.

f. To retrieve the dead bodies scattered in the streets and inside buildings and make accounting thereof.

g. To make an inventory of all civilian lives lost, damages to homes and properties and business establishments or source of livelihood destroyed.

h. To create rehabilitation fund to rebuild, reconstruct and rehabilitate the city.

i. To create livelihood support to the victims and extend emergency financial assistance.

j. To do whatever is necessary for the general welfare of the Maranao People as citizens of this country with equal rights and privileges with the rest of the Filipinos. And 

k. To include us (Marawi Sultanate League) as royal traditional leaders of Marawi City in the membership of any task force or commission that will undertake the above-mentioned tasks and/or activities when and where possible.

Done in Iligan City on Saturday, June 3, 2017.

(Original Document Signed by the League Members)