CALL FOR SOLIDARITY. Abdul Hamidullah Atar, a Marawi sultan, says that the Marawi crisis should not be the time to be divided, but an opportunity to foster understanding and be united as Filipinos. Photo by Gene Verona of The Crusader Publication.
By Stephen J Pedroza
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines — Over 300,000 residents from the Islamic City of Marawi, the capital of Lanao del Sur, have been forced to flee their homes and sought safe refuge elsewhere while the war persists between the government troops and the ISIS-inspired Maute group.
Abdul Hamidullah Atar, a Marawi sultan, said that this should not be the time to be divided by differences in religion, but an opportunity to foster understanding and be united as Filipinos. He also asked everyone to have sympathy for the Maranao people and their plight.
“That has been one of the biggest problems here. Whenever one of us wanted to rent a place or an apartment, most of us would be thrown out because we are Maranaos,” Atar said at the “Martial Law: Implications and Complications” forum in Xavier University - Ateneo de Cagayan on June 21.
“It is very sad that we do not have a place to go home to now,” he added.
Many of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) have traveled from their hometown to neighboring cities, such as Iligan and Cagayan de Oro.
Besides displacement, Atar said that Maranaos have had to endure discrimination. But as a result of this conflict, the prejudices against them have worsened.
“People blame my people because of what happened. But no, this is an accumulation of so many problems in the society. This is not an isolated problem but a problem with a larger scope,” he explained.
ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAW. Liberal Party Senator Hontiveros-Baraquel urges everyone to scrutinize if the imposition of the martial rule is in accordance with the law. Photo by Gene Verona of The Crusader Publication.
To address the needs of the displaced civilians and help them rebuild their homes and lives, President Rodrigo Duterte has created Task Force Bangon Marawi, who will execute the inter-agency and multi-faceted Bangon Marawi Plan which contains both short-term and long-term recovery mechanisms.
The Marawi war, which began on May 23, prompted Duterte to declare Martial Law in the entire Mindanao, citing the militants’ bid to establish an ISIS province in the second largest island in the Philippine archipelago.
The declaration has met mixed views and has been challenged before the Supreme Court by groups who believe the imposition was “unnecessary.” The high court has until Wednesday, July 5 to rule on the legality of the Martial Law declaration in Mindanao.
At the XU forum, Senator Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel said that Duterte’s plan to extend the 60-day martial rule in Mindanao can only be legal and Constitutional if it gets the approval of both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
“What I can say is that there can be unli-rice but there can’t be unlimited Martial Law,” the senator said in Filipino.
Hontiveros-Baraquel urged to scrutinize if the imposition of the martial rule is in accordance with the law and emphasized the opposition’s call for both the Senate and the House of Representatives to convene a joint session to discuss the said proclamation.
According to authorities, as of Friday, June 30, the Marawi conflict has led to the death of 82 government troopers and 303 terrorists. A CNN report also said that the crisis has taken a toll on the mental health of the IPDs in the evacuation centers and went on that authorities said 2,500 people have shown early symptoms of schizophrenia.
Organized by the Xavier Ateneo Social Development cluster, the forum at the XU Little Theater was attended by members of the academic community, civil society organizations, representatives from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, local government unit officials government agencies, and IDPs, among others.∎