Total wellness

The general well-being of a nation is not measured by the progress of an area where the hulk of its total economic output is generated.

Rather, it is measured by the sum of the progress made in all its regions.

And while some regions lag in development on account of calamities or disasters, conflicts or wars, and other disruptive factors either because of natural causes or man-made, overall progress is diminished.    

Disappointment or frustration sets in, fueling restlessness or tension in the community. This sometimes finds extreme expression in violence or terrorism.    

And so we are inclined to share the sentiment of s a very discerning lady lawmaker in saying that the continuing delay of rehabilitation efforts in Marawi aggravated by the Covid-19 pandemic provides fertile ground for a new wave of terrorism in the country.

Sen.  Imee Marcos issued the statement on the third anniversary of the Marawi Siege, which coincides with the start of Eid ul-Fitr, celebrating the end of fasting during Ramadan.

"Our military is overstretched. We may render them inutile, ordering them to be Covid frontliners assisting in the delivery of medical and food supplies, on top of keeping the peace in troubled zones. Many anti-government forces could take advantage of the situation and the frustration of Marawi's homeless," Marcos said.

"Marawi will remain volatile as long as its residents are condemned to be 'bakwits'. Let them go home soonest, three years' exile has been an eternity!" she added.

Military clashes have occurred in Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, and Sulu with terrorist groups like the Abu Sayyaf, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, as well as remnants of the Maute Group whose leaders were captured during the five-month siege in 2017 that reduced Marawi City to ruins.

"The lure of rebellion is strong. International terrorist groups like ISIS are reported to be recruiting disgruntled young Muslims with the promise of monthly salaries and aid to their families," Marcos said.

The chair of the Senate committee on cultural communities, has proposed via Senate Bill 410 to use part of a vast military reservation area to grant land titles to Marawi residents who lost their homes and businesses during the siege.

"President Duterte has the power to grant this. It will cut the Gordian knot of having to reconstitute land and property titles to which the Maranao tradition of deep family trust and keeping one's word are not really accustomed," she  said.

"The requirement of such legal documents continues to prevent thousands of displaced Marawi residents from reclaiming and rebuilding their homes and are the main cause of delay in Marawi's rehabilitation," the lawmaker added.

Marcos' bill also seeks to set up a more permanent Bangon Marawi Council, citing that the present Task Force Bangon Marawi has repeatedly missed its deadlines and that "complete rehabilitation will take decades".

Meanwhile, Malacañang on Saturday honored the government troops who offered their lives to liberate the Islamic City from the hands Dawlah Islamiya-Maute extremist group.

“Today, as we remember Marawi, we pay tribute to the heroism of our fallen men in uniform during the siege of the Islamic City,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a press statement.

The Philippine Army’s 103rd Infantry Brigade held Saturday a simple commemoration of the third anniversary of the Marawi siege at Kampo Ranao in Marawi City.

It also remembered the sacrifices of the fallen heroes who fought hard to stop the violence of the terrorist group that attempted to establish a Wilayat or administrative state in Mindanao.

The Marawi siege, which began on May 23, 2017, prompted President Duterte to place the entire Mindanao under martial rule until Dec. 31, 2019 to quell the terrorism in the southern part of the country.

Over 1,200 people died in the battle until government forces finally liberated Marawi City from terrorists in October 2017.

A total of 168 soldiers and policemen died during the Marawi siege that displaced thousands of people in the Islamic city.

The National Housing Authority has programmed a total of 4,866 transitional shelters for IDPs.

As of January this year, around 2, 911 housing units have already been occupied.

The government is also targeting to build 3,580 units of permanent shelter that would be completed in the first quarter of 2021.

Housing Sec. Eduardo del Rosario announced the approval of the P3.56-billion budget for Marawi rehabilitation.