Gov't should appoint rehab czar for Marawi: Villanueva

MANILA - The administration should appoint a rehabilitation czar to oversee the rebuilding of war-torn Marawi City for more "accountability," Senator Joel Villanueva said Tuesday.

"That’s the most important word right now, accountability—sino yung in charge, what is your target, what’s your deliverables, what’s your timeline. It’s clear na kung di mo magawa yan, you take the consequences,” he told ANC’s Headstart.

Once a bustling cultural and trading center, Marawi City was reduced to rubble after 5 months of fighting between state troops and Islamic State-inspired extremists.

President Rodrigo Duterte earlier announced the liberation of the city, and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Monday said combat operations in Marawi are finally over after the last group of the Maute fighters were killed in a final firefight Sunday.