MANILA — Efforts to rehabilitate war-torn Marawi City are now in full swing in line with efforts to prevent terror groups from recruiting new members.
“Malaking posibilidad yan ano, kaya nga continuous ngayon yung rehabilitation sa Marawi City (That is a big possibility that is why the rehabilitation of Marawi City is continuous), kasi (because) part of the recruitment is how they see ‘yung (the) progress ng (of) rehabilitation ng (of) Marawi,” Philippine Army (PA) commander Lt. Gen. Rolando Joselito Bautista said late Friday.
Bautista noted that this is the reason why President Rodrigo Duterte is doing all he can to expedite the rehabilitation of Marawi City which was badly battered during the five-month campaign against the Maute Group terrorists who took control of the locality starting May 23.
Fighting only ended when the military managed to neutralize and confirmed the deaths of Abu Sayyaf leader and ISIS emir in Southeast Asia, Isnilon Hapilon, and cohorts Omar Maute, last Oct. 16.
“Kaya nga ang ating Presidente ay ginagawa talaga ang lahat ng kanyang magagawa (that’s why our President is doing everything in his capacity), minobilize nya lahat ng mga (he mobilized all) government agencies, inutusan nya yung mga (he ordered) local government units para mapadali yung (to hasten the) rehabilitation ng (of) Marawi City,” Bautista added.
Also, the PA chief said that the rehabilitation and the presence of soldiers in Marawi City is a confidence builder for residents and the contractors tasked to do the rebuilding.
“They have to be fearless, they should not have hesitations. Because if they become scared and let’s say there is an incident caused by the local terrorist group, it’s either they will back out or refuse to work there. The effect is the rehabilitation of Marawi City will be delayed),” he added. (PNA)
