TASK Force Bangon Marawi chairman Secretary Eduardo Del Rosario has assured President Rodrigo Roa Duterte that the rehabilitation of public infrastructures in Marawi City will be completed within his term.

Del Rosario made the statement following the President ‘s call for the Task Force to hasten efforts in rebuilding the country’s lone Islamic city during his State of the Nation Address on Monday.

“On behalf of Task Force Bangon Marawi and our 56 implementing agencies, I would like to assure our President and our Maranao brothers and sisters that we will complete the rehabilitation of all major infrastructures in Marawi City within his administration,” the TFBM chief said.

“Currently, we are 70 to 75 percent complete in the overall rehabilitation works, and by December, substantial number of projects will be completed as embodied in the master development plan,” noted Secretary Del Rosario, who also heads the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development.

Del Rosario has been conducting monthly inspection of the ongoing rehabilitation works in Marawi since the construction of vertical and horizontal structures went full blast in July 2020.

Only last week, the TFBM chief visited Marawi, in which he spearheaded the awarding of 170 more permanent shelters to families of internally-displaced persons.

He likewise led the inauguration of Masjid Darussalam, the second mosque to be repaired inside Marawi’s “ground zero.”

According to him, Marawi residents are now starting to feel and enjoy the initial fruition of the rehabilitation works.

“In fact, we have started awarding permanent housing units — so far we already awarded 279 permanent shelters since February and two mosques inside the most affected area have been inaugurated, and more housing units will be awarded soon while other projects are scheduled to be inaugurated in the coming months,” Del Rosario said.

He said residents of Sectors 1 to 3 inside the most affected area have returned to their homes as early as August last year following restoration of power supply in the area.

In his final SONA, Duterte urged the TFBM to hasten rehabilitation efforts and ensure the swift return of families affected by the siege back to their homes.

“To Task Force Bangon Marawi, we need to race against time. You have to finish the necessary work to rehabilitate the war-torn city and bring its families back home,” the President said.

Del Rosario said much progress had transpired in Marawi following the 2017 siege perpetrated by Daesh-inspired terrorists, evidenced by the completion of the 19-km. Transcentral Roads, the Tolali Barangay Complex with health station and madrasah, the fully-equipped Rorogagus Health Station, the Central Material Recovery Facility, the Lilod Guimba Bridge, the Banggolo Bridge, Mapandi Bridge and the Disomangcop Mosque.

“This is on top of the sustained livelihood and other assistance programs being implemented by various government and non-government organizations,” he said.

Scheduled for completion in the coming weeks are more permanent shelters in various resettlement sites, the road networks inside most affected areas, with underground utilities, solar lamps and traffic lights, whose completion will signal the return of IDPs from Sectors 4 to 7, and the inauguration of more mosques.

Meanwhile, other infrastructure projects like the three-storey 20-classroom school buildings, the mall-like Grand Padian Market, the School of Living Tradition, the Peace Memorial, Marawi Museum, Marawi Convention Center, the Sarimanok Stadium – – all inside the ground zero, are now in various stages of completion. Jun Legaspi