COTABATO CITY — A total of 526 families who evacuated to Madamba, Lanao del Sur, following the Marawi siege received on Thursday one sack of rice each good for a month’s consumption from two relief organizations.
A convoy of rice-laden trucks proceeded to the area early Thursday through the facilitation of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao–Humanitarian Emergency Assistance Response Team (ARMM–HEART) and World Food Programme (WFP) and was met by Madamba Mayor Daguruan Mindalano.
“Most of the evacuees are living with relatives in Madamba,” Myrna Jocelyn Henry, ARMM–HEART spokesperson, said in an interview.
“Obviously, these people need help,” Stephen Gluning, WFP representative and country director, also said.
Heaving a sigh of relief, Gluning said that he looks forward to the day that the evacuees return home and start their lives anew now that the Marawi war is over and government rehabilitation efforts are going on.
“These people really want to go home, but are patiently awaiting the go-signal from the government for them to return to Marawi,” he stressed.
An evacuee, Hamdani Hassan, 25, of Barangay Kadayunan, Marawi City, expressed joy upon hearing the news that Marawi has been liberated from the ISIS–inspired groups of Maute and Abu Sayyaf.
“I just hope that government forces would stay for good in Marawi to avoid a repetition of the incident,” he said in Tagalog dialect.
Another evacuee, Mahadi Mindalano, 73, said that at this point in time of his life, he just wants to see the rebuilding of Marawi from ashes to becoming the renowned Islamic City as it was labeled before.
“Also, I would like to see my relatives whom I have not heard from over the past several months. I miss them,” he said in Maranao vernacular. (Noel Punzalan/PNA)
