Residents: Marawi is still a ghost town

Marawi before the siege of 2017. (RSP)

MARAWI CITY: Contrary to what the Task Force Bangon Marawi (TFBM) said that the devastated area of Marawi was alive and booming and not a ghost town as claimed by The Washington Post, residents believed their city is still a ghost town.

Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) vice governor Haroun Alrashid Lucman, Jr. said “It’s a ghost town.” Lucman whose family residence is within the Most Affected Area (MAA) asked, “Why can’t we be truthful about it?”

He said, “It's obvious the Post refers to the MAA, which it is,” responding to others who called the Washington Post's article as merely semantics in using Marawi City.

On Wednesday, opposition senatorial candidate Samira Gutoc belied the claim of TFBM chair Eduardo del Rosario, that the war-torn area was “alive and booming” and not a “ghost town” like how The Washington Post said in its February 1 story.

"It's really ghost. It is ghost when you have the commercial capital in Marawi City burned and you have not yet rebuild it after 20 months,” Gutoc, a Marawi civic leader, told reporters.

She asserted, “We depend a lot on Marawi’s commercial site which was devastated and rehabilitation has not yet been started. What martial law are you talking about? Hindi na-marshal ang development para sa poorest of the poor.”

In a press briefing on Tuesday, Del Rosario belied the claims of The Washington Post’s article titled, “Philippine forces cleared this city of Islamist militants in 2017. It’s still a ghost town.”

Del Rosario said that the reality on the ground had nothing to mean a ghost city “but instead it’s full of economic activity,” Del Rosario argued.

He stressed that the most-devastated area in the city was only 250 hectares as opposed to the city’s total area of 8,000 hectares.

“Two hundred fifty hectares is just .03 percent of the total area of 8,000 hectares. Mukhang masyadong na-dramatize negatively (ang situation),” the TFBM head claimed.

Residents still believe the city remains devastated.

People are still in evacuation centers relying on very very limited relief assistance for their survival.

Marawi resident Aisah Gutoc-Macapundag believed that Marawi devastated area is really a ghost town, adding, “That is the saddest truth.”

Another resident Leah Tarhata Mehila said “MARAWI is a ghost town and a very promising investment business for the few.” She might be referring to the multi-billion peso aid to the city which is handled by a few.

On May 23, 2017, the ISIS-inspired Maute group attacked the Islamic city of Marawi, destroying public infrastructure, private properties, livelihood sources, and displacing thousands of Marawi residents from their homes.

The government declared Marawi liberated on October 17, 2017, after its forces regained control of the city and killed known international terrorists Isnilon Hapilon and the Maute brothers.

The five month battle between government troops and the terrorists totally wrecked the city’s 24 barangays which has been closed to the public that only a few could visit the most affected area on a limited time only also. (MASIDING NOOR YAHYA)