Probe urged on harassment of Marawi evacuees in Iligan

COTABATO CITY (30 Mar 2018) - Lanao del Sur officials have urged Malacanang to conduct an investigation on the move of Iligan City leaders to evict evacuees from Marawi City now occupying houses in the Bayanihan Village there.

Vice Gov. Haroun Al-Rashid Lucman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao said Wednesday he first broke the issue to Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana during the ARMM regional peace and order council meeting last week at the Western Mindanao Command headquarters in Zamboanga City.

"These persistent reports about internally-displaced people from Marawi City being pressured to leave the Bayanihan Village where they have procured houses after having been dislodged from their homes by a bloody siege last year by terrorists is so hurting for us, their leaders," Lucman said.

The Bayanihan Village is located in Santa Elena in Iligan City, which is under Administrative Region 10.

Marawi City, capital of Lanao del Sur, and all 39 towns in the province are component-areas of ARMM.

Many houses in the village built for families displaced by Typhoon "Sendong" that hit Iligan City and nearby towns in 2011 had been sold by its owners to some IDPs of the Marawi siege by combined Maute and Abu Sayyaf terrorist.

One local official had reportedly even personally warned the new owners of the houses to leave voluntarily or get evicted forcibly.

"The affected villagers are ready to sign sworn statements pertaining to their said experiences.  Their sentiments were brought to our attention by the elders of the Maranaos who acquired houses there legally," Lucman said.

Sources from the local political community said it is a known fact that there are hardened anti-Moro elected officials in their ranks.

Lucman said dozens of original owners of houses in the Bayanihan Village offered their units to IDPs from Marawi City whose homes were destroyed during last year's conflict there.

The five-month hostilities in Marawi City left hundreds of people dead, among them soldiers and policemen, caused the displacement of thousands and left dozens of historic Maranao enclaves in ruins.

"Secretary Lorenzana responded nicely when I raised the issue during the meeting of members of the ARMM peace and order council in Zamboanga City last March 21," Lucman said.

Lorenzana had assured to look into the complaints of Maranao IDPs now residing at the Bayanihan Village.

The local government of Iligan City conducted a pre-padlocking dialogue 

with Bayanihan Village stakeholders at Brgy Tomas Cabili Gymnasium

Tuesday, 27 March 2018.  

"Defense Secretary Lorenzana also told us during that meeting that evictions cannot be done just like that and that even the local government unit of Iligan City cannot do that," Lucman said.


Lucman said he and his constituent-leaders in Marawi City and Lanao del Sur want the central office of the Department of the Interior and Local Government to initiate an inquiry on the issue.

"This will have a bad impact on the Mindanao peace initiatives of President Duterte if left unchecked.  We in the ARMM are very supportive of Malacanang's peace process intended to peacefully put an end to the Mindanao secessionist conflict," Luman said.

Last week, Marawi Mayor Majul Gandamra requested for an extension of the April 15 deadline to pull out all IDPs from the Iligan evacuation centers saying the government is rushing construction of the shelters expected by the first week of April.

Task Force Bangon Marawi (TFBM) Assistant Secretary Felix Castro said out of the 26,000 families from Ground Zero, only 11,000 have been identified as qualified to receive transition shelter assistance.  Some 15,000 families still need to be cleared.

Iligan City Mayor Celso Regencia earlier informed TFBM he wanted all Marawi evacuees out of Iligan by March 31, citing security concerns, but this was moved to April 15, considering the construction time frame.




ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman said he will ask the Regional Commission on Human Rights, whose office is inside the regional capitol in Cotabato City, to investigate on the issue too.

"This move shall be coordinated with the office of the Commission on Human Rights in Region 10, the police and the military because Mindanao is currently under martial law," Hataman said Wednesday. [John Unson, Philstar and Julmunir I. Jannaral, The Manila Times]