By Carolyn O. Arguillas
Mindanews
Last of two parts
ILIGAN City – Sen. Francis Tolentino said the committee did not conduct the hearing to find faults “but we are here to try to find solutions.”
He said he hopes members of the community could “propound uninhibited questions” to hasten the process of rehabilitation.
But the meeting ended with only a few voices heard from among the displaced Marawi residents.
At 3:42 p.m., committee chair Senator Ronald dela Rosa, addressing the invited leaders after the five senators’ opening statements, set the rule at “three minutes lang to accommodate everybody, then (we will call on) TFBM (Task Force Bangon Marawi)” but facing TFBM chair Eduardo del Rosario who sat across him, he said “unless may importante kang, mahalagang sabihin.”
Del Rosario sought permission to show a powerpoint on updates from the TFBM, presented by Field Manager, Assistant Secretary Felix Castro. That took 17 minutes, leaving only 68 minutes for questions and interventions until dela Rosa suspended the hearing at 5:07 p.m.
The Committee had invited 63 resource persons, 28 of them from the national government, nine from the Bangsamoro region, eight from the local governments, three from the academe, and 15 from non-governmental organizations.
Because 56 minutes had been eaten up by introductions and opening statements and the TFBM briefing, only 68 minutes were left for “hearing” the voices of various sectors. Most of the time, however, was spent on questions from senators and answers from government officials, leaving only a few minutes for the IDPs themselves – for whom the rehabilitation efforts are intended – to say their piece.
Only five were able to speak – former Rep. Faysah Dumarpa, Norodin Lucman who helped save non-Moro residents trapped in the early days of the siege, an elderly man, the husband of a barangay official and a female representative of an IDP group who insisted on reading a portion of their position paper. Other IDP leaders who raised their hands repeatedly were not called at all.
Dumarpa noted that all the transitional or permanent shelters are outside Ground Zero. Addressing the Senators, she said: “I do not know if you have gone to the real Ground Zero. If you had gone to the center of Ground Zero your honors, there is nothing in Ground Zero.”
“Please, we want to go home in our homeland,” she said.
Dumarpa asked Sen. Christhopher Lawrence Go, whom she referred to as “second son” of President Duterte, to bring to his attention the appeals of the people of Marawi.
Go assured Dumarpa, “Ina, isusumbong ko kay ama.”
It is not clear how many IDP leaders will be invited to the Malacanang meeting in early March.
On Friday morning, displaced Marawi residents staying in Saguiaran, Lanao del Sur, staged a picket along the highway with placards and tarpaulins bearing messages to “let us go home” and in the afternoon in Iligan City, displaed Marawi residents marched from the Children’s Park to the MSU-IIT gym where the public hearing was held.
Sen. Imee Marcos drew cheers and applause when she expressed hope that they would all be home before the third anniversary of the siege on May 23 because “panahon na para umuwi ang bawat pamilya sa Lupang hinirang,” she said.
She questioned the use of rehab funds, why some funds had to be returned and some unauthorized by the Commission on Audit, and why funds donated by other countries were unaccounted for.
She also questioned the issue on land titles and why people who are supposed to return to Ground Zero cannot because “walang bahay, wlaang koreyente, walang tubig” (no houses, no electricity, no water).
“Ano ba ang nangyayari? Di namin maintindihan” (What is happening? We cannot understand), she said.
Del Rosario said the permanent shelters are located outside Ground Zero because these are for IDPs who lived in danger zones inside Ground Zero and own no property there.
He said the free housing is for some 4,000 to 5,000 households.
He assured those who own lands in Ground Zero: “kung inyo ang lupa, titled or not, that will be yours. Ikaw pa rin babalik dyan” (if the land is yours, titled or not, that will be yours. You will return there).
But he explained that the coordinates of the land titles presented to them are different from the coordinates in the actual locations, hence, the move to have all land titles reconstituted to avoid conflict and new titles will be given to them that will reflect the correct coordinates of their lands.
He said there are also conflicting claims on ownership of land and buildings and “if we will allow them to go back, it will be a big problem.”
Marcos said reconstituting titles will be another long process. She said the Administrative Code allows the President to give away public lands for titling, as was done with the Mindanao State University in Marawi which was part of a military reserve, and other areas. “Outright titling” can be done in Marawi so the process won’t take long, she said.
She said it may take another 20 to 30 years for the land titling issue to be settled and “kung antayin natin yan, wala nang makakauwi (sa Marawi)” (and if we wait for that no one can return home to Marawi)
The crowd cheered and applauded again.
Del Rosario said there is a need to correct the coordinates so that in the future, there will be no multiple claims over one lot.
Dela Rosa told del Rosario that the committee understands his situation and the handicaps they are facing but “however difficult your job is, we want results and we want to see kung may nangyayari talaga (if something is really happening).
Tolentino stressed the need for the private sector to be present in the meeting in Malacanang “lalo na ang mga displaced” (especially the displaced residents).
He reminded del Rosario that his time with the Commission on Appointments is nearing and that he was giving him “advance tips” on how to present what TFBM has done, its timeline, its achievables and what has been achieved.
Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri announced he and the four other senators have committed to file on Monday their own version of the compensation bill for Marawi and that as Senate Majority Leader, he promised to “prioritize this measure for approval.” (Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews)
