LANAO DEL SUR (UPDATE) — Marawi residents living in shelters since 2017 continue struggling to rebuild their lives, as they face joblessness and lack of permanent homes nearly six years since the siege that devastated the city.

Haira Ali Guro, who used to sell fabrics before terrorists attacked the city, has just moved into the Pagalamatan Shelter in Saguiaran town.

This shelter is funded by local officials, and the community makes a living by keeping sari-sari stores and by farming.

Haira Ali Guro shows her house here in Pagalamatan Shelter in Saguiaran town, Lanao del Sur. Guro's lease in her temporary shelter on Sagonsongan, Marawi has already expired. Job Manahan, ABS-CBN News

Haira Ali Guro shows her house here in Pagalamatan Shelter in Saguiaran town, Lanao del Sur. Guro's lease in her temporary shelter on Sagonsongan, Marawi has already expired. Job Manahan, ABS-CBN News

Haira Ali Guro shows her house here in Pagalamatan Shelter in Saguiaran town, Lanao del Sur. Guro's lease in her temporary shelter on Sagonsongan, Marawi has already expired. Job Manahan, ABS-CBN News

Her house here remains unfurnished and is near a small gully choked by human waste. The dirty water enters her home when heavy rains bring floods.

Guro said she needs money to buy hollow blocks that will keep the water out, but she is still jobless.

• Duterte signs law to compensate victims of 2017 war in Marawi

“Mahirap talaga kasi back to zero. Lahat wala. Kung hindi kami napadpad sa mga kamag-anak namin, hindi ko na alam kung paano. Buti nga nandiyan sila, sila ang tumulong sa amin,” she told ABS-CBN News.

(It is really difficult because we went back to zero. Everything was gone. If we had not been able to stay with our relatives, I don't know what we would have done. We are fortunate that they were there to help us.)

When she recently returned to Marawi City to check property that they had to leave to flee fighting in 2017, she said, she cried. Her home was gone.

“Siyempre, maiyak ka. Ang bahay mo makita mo wala. Damuhan lang ang makikita mo. Maiyak ka na maalala mo ‘yung hindi pa sira ang Marawi. ‘Yun. Talagang nakakaiyak kapag makita mo ang mga tinitirhan mo, wala,” she said.

(Of course, I wept. If you see your home destroyed, and everything is covered in grass... You will cry when you remember how Marawi used to be.)

“Noong naawalan na yung gera sa Marawi, tapos may natapos na ang mga shelter doon sa Sagunsongan, bumalik na kami sa Sagunsongan,” she said.

"When the fighting in Marawi ended and when they finished the shelters in Sagunsongan, we came back.)

RELYING ON RELATIVES

Anisah Malambut broke down when she opened up about her situation.

Anisah Malambut breaks down as she opens up about her struggles in finding a new home outside Marawi City. Malambut says because she remains jobless, she just depends on the kindness of her relatives and make do with whatever she has. Job Manahan, ABS-CBN News

Anisah Malambut breaks down as she opens up about her struggles in finding a new home outside Marawi City. Malambut says because she remains jobless, she just depends on the kindness of her relatives and make do with whatever she has. Job Manahan, ABS-CBN News

Anisah Malambut breaks down as she opens up about her struggles in finding a new home outside Marawi City. Malambut says because she remains jobless, she just depends on the kindness of her relatives and make do with whatever she has. Job Manahan, ABS-CBN News

Malambut — who has 8 children, including one who has special needs — said that she does not get any aid from the local government because she does not live in a shelter.

Unlike Guro, she has yet to return to Marawi City.

“Sino ba namang tatakbuhan ko? Wala akong tatay, wala akong magulang na tatakbuhan. Wala akong kapatid. Yun lang. Sabi ko sa mga anak ko, kumayod na lang kung ano ang puwede nating ikabuhay,” Malambut said.

(Who will I run to? I don't have a father, I don't have parents to run to. I don't have any siblings. So, I tell my children to just work hard at whatever we can do to earn a living.)

• Duterte signs law to compensate victims of 2017 war in Marawi

“Kung saan-saan na kami nakarating mabuhay ko lang mga anak ko… Wala akong trabaho, wala akong hanapbuhay. Naghihintay kami sa awa ng kamag-anak,” she said.

(We have gone everywhere just to survive. I don't have a job or any livelihood. We rely on help from relatives.)

Then President Rodrigo Duterte on Oct. 17, 2017 declared Marawi liberated from ISIS-linked terrorists. More than 80,000 individuals or 16,000 families, meanwhile, were left without homes.

CHALLENGES TO COMPENSATION FOR SURVIVORS

Six years on, displaced Maranaos appealed for community dialogues, support systems including psychosocial support, livelihood and healthcare, as well as inclusive participation in internally displaced persons-led peacebuilding and capacity-building activities within transitional justice framework.

In an interview, the Marawi Compensation Board (MCB) said they need P50 billion to provide compensation to 23,000 claimants in the next five years.

So far, lawmakers have only approved P1 billion for their budget next year.

MCB Chairman Maisara Dandamun-Latiph said they already accepted claims last July 4, and some might be able to receive their compensation by this month.

Responding to some former Marawi residents’ claims, Dandamun-Latiph said their anxiety could be coming from the process of proving ownership of their property to seek compensation.

“The anxiety I think is coming from the people who do not have documents. Those are the rules that I am afraid — the casualty of the law. The law said competent proof of evidence,” she said.

“[Speaking] as a lawyer, you really need to have that before… the awarding.”

The compensation board, she said, is studying carefully how to apply the liberality of that provision “in the absence of competent evidence.”

“I think I am also anxious. Thousands of people now are in that. When we adjudicate that you lost P1.2 million of goods [we ask,] is there any competent proof of evidence you can provide?

“There are so many of them. Thousands of these claimants. And I think that is where the anxiety is coming from. The provision in the law that provides for… proof of evidence and I think… our lawyers really need to study how we can help them.”

GROUPS VOW TO MONITOR DEVELOPMENTS

The Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF), which supported communities displaced during the 2017 Marawi siege, said they would continue to fund its partners here in the Philippines.

GCERF has partnered with local non-profit group Initiatives for Dialogue and Empowerment through Alternative Legal Services (IDEALS) for its programs in Marawi.

During the visit to the Pagalamatan Shelter in Saguiaran, Lanao del Sur – where around 200 displaced Marawi families currently stay – the two organizations vowed to coordinate with local authorities to help provide sustainable and permanent housing to them.

IDEALS conducted a media training for the youth in the shelter for those who aspire to become journalists.

For his part, GCERF executive director Khalid Koser said it was essential that participants become partners in their long-term goal of preventing violent extremism.

He also thanked stakeholders for empowering communities and helping them “stand on their feet.”

“This agenda will not go ignored. I think this is a strong list of priorities, I think these are achievable and we will help you achieve these priorities,” Koser said of the 8-point agenda of civil society groups in attaining transitional justice for Marawi residents.

“GCERF will continue to fund our partners in this part of the world. Your work is essential and it has to be sustained and we will continue to sustain your efforts,” he said.

GCERF, a Geneva-based global fund set up to support community-led efforts to prevent violent extremism, has 6 active grants in the Philippines.

It holds portfolios in Metro Manila and Mindanao in partnership with 29 civil society groups, which the group said already reached more than 200,000 direct participants.

The global fund has poured over $8.5 million for its programs in the country since 2019, focused on local governance at the barangay level, livelihoods, peace and education, as well as transitional justice.

“Even as bad people continue to do bad things… GCERF will be here to support you,” he said.

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