Senator Imee Marcos urged the government to speed up the titling of lands for displaced residents of Marawi City to address the delay in the rehabilitation of the war-torn city.

Marcos said she particularly asked defense officials for a comprehensive plan beyond clearing Marawi of unexploded ordnances and debris by the end of October.

She said her Senate Bill 410 proposes to give government lands, including a portion of military reservation areas, to Marawi evacuees who fled the 2017 terrorist siege.

“Habang nakatiwangwang ang siyudad eh nawawalang gana at nadidismaya ang mga kapatid nating Muslim (Our Muslim brothers are becoming disappointed, as the city continues to lay bare),” Marcos said.

The bill also seeks to replace the provisional Task Force Bangon Marawi with a long-term Bangon Marawi Council that would be chaired by the President.

Under the proposal, the President can declare that military reservation areas are no longer necessary for military use and that government land can be sold or awarded.

The senator said rebuilding a ruined city may call for a new location.

She has also proposed to speed up Marawi’s rehabilitation by easing requirements on procurement and construction for joint venture projects in the city’s most affected areas called Ground Zero.

A five-month armed conflict between the government troops and Maute group-led terrorists reduced the erstwhile vibrant Marawi City to rubble, displacing more than 200,000 people in 2017. (PNA)