Evacuees still ask: Why can we not see our homes in Ground Zero?

It is already nine months, or almost, since the siege and residents in the Ground Zero of Marawi are not yet able to see their homes and question after question that is haunting them is: “Why can we not see our homes after all these months?”

The government has ready answers for this: It is not yet safe, more bombs are to be cleared; It has to be cleaned of the debris for residents will not like what they will see of what happened to their homes and houses; And others.

Yes, the government can answer with a martial law discretion that no one would dare question whether such answer is true or false, after all, everybody including Muslims in the cabinet, the city and provincial chief executives, their traditional and CSO leaders readily concur.

But then, it could not be helped to ask, “Is clearing of unexploded bombs and cleaning of debris are the real reasons for not allowing evacuees to see their homes? Or are there covert operations going on in the said area that should not be revealed, especially to the Maranaos?

There are people saying, either in certain or uncertain terms, that some covert activities are going on in the so-called ground zero. If this be true, as being said, the government has got really some world-class plans for the city to finish. Our only concern is the human rights of our people being trampled. Can we wait it to be done? (RSP)