MANILA, July 4 — The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) will be tapped to help in the rehabilitation of Marawi City once clearing operations against Maute Group terrorists are completed.
This was bared by DND Secretary Delfin Lorenzana during the “Mindanao Hour” briefing Monday.
“We are now preparing the mechanism to (facilitate) the rehabilitation of Marawi and since I am also the chairman of the NDRRMC, I’m going to use the NDRRMC as the vehicle to implement the rehabilitation of Marawi because we consider the events in Marawi as a man-made disaster,” he added.
The NDRRMC is an attached agency of the DND and is mandated to help in rehabilitation efforts in areas severely impacted by calamities, both natural and man-made.
Lorenzana stressed there is no need, for the moment, to get additional people for the task, adding existing NDRRMC personnel will do for the moment.
“We will use the current mechanism of the NDRRMC. So the first thing we would do (once the Maute Group is totally neutralized) is to clear the area of any leftover improvised explosive devices (afterwhich) we (will) allow the return of the civilians (to) Marawi,” the DND chief pointed out.
Incidentally, the former was tapped to lead Task Force “Bangon Marawi”.
As of this posting, the number of Maute Group terrorists neutralized is placed at 337 with 82 government troops killed and 44 civilians executed. (PNA)
(Priam F. Nepomuceno/Jayvee H. Castro & Gilbert Villaruz (OJTs)/PNA)
