Marawi residents sit under the shelter of newly constructed houses in Barangay Sagonsongan, Marawi City on Tuesday. President Duterte visited on January 30 the housing relocation sites for those who were displaced by the Marawi siege. (MNS photo)
MANILA, Jan 31 (Mabuhay) — President Rodrigo Duterte has reiterated his call to the residents of MarawiCity to avoid terrorism in the wake of the city rehabilitation following a five-month siege led by ISIS-inspired Maute group.
Duterte encouraged the residents to revive their businesses as he promised that his administration would continue to fund the city’s rebuilding.
“You do not kill and destroy for no reason at all. Kaya huwag nating papasukin, I beg of you not to allow them to enter because it will just cause massive destruction and the loss of lives, including the innocent ones who are really the helpless in case of war,” he said Tuesday.
“We try to build a new city. I will guarantee you for the remaining years that there will always be money for you, that you’ll be able to rehabilitate your business kung talagang gusto lang ninyo. Pagandahin ninyo ang Marawi and welcome everybody… ‘Pag gumanda na ito, invite everybody, invite the Christians because they want to see LakeLanao. Just provide them security. Huwag kayong — Puro tayo Pilipino,” he added.
Duterte was in Marawi for the first time in 2018 to lead the groundbreaking ceremony of a new military camp and inspect temporary shelters for the displaced residents.
The visit was not aired live on state-run People’s Television and the Presidential Communications Operations Office’s Facebook account. The transcript of his speech was released late Tuesday night and videos were posted on RTVM’s YouTube page on Wednesday.
The military camp will be constructed at the OldCity Hall, according to a Malacañang release. Joining Duterte at the ceremony were Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Interior officer-in-charge Eduardo Año, and Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council and Task Force Bangon Marawi chairperson Eduardo del Rosario.
“I’m going to set a camp here but I will pay you. This is a military reservation pero may mga may-ari naman ng lupa. O sige na lang, kung anong makuha nila, eh ‘di bayaran na lang. We will pay para walang gulo. And that is your guarantee,” he said.
Duterte also distributed at least 250 certificates of acceptance and occupancy of temporary shelter units and witnessed the launch of the Landbank Financial Assistance Program (LFAP) for Marawi and Siyapan (Care) community-based drug rehabilitation center.
Malacañang said the MarawiCity government received P10 million from Landbank while Lanao del Sur got P5 million.
Meanwhile, the Siyapen community-based drug rehabilitation center is a project of the Ayala Foundation. The foundation also turned over P3 million for Marawi’s internally displaced persons and two vehicles. (MNS)