By FRANCIS T. WAKEFIELD
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff, General Carlito Galvez, said the full rehabilitation of Marawi City will be in full swing starting June 15.
Galvez recently went to the war-torn city to prepare area commanders for its long-planned rehabilitation and to ensure it will go ahead unimpeded.
“We have to make sure that it (rehabilitation efforts) will be unimpeded, it will be safe, and our contractors will not be hampered by any threat of kidnapping or any aggressions from the Maute-Isis,” Galvez said.
“That’s why we will be conducting some brainstorming with my commanders so that we will reactivate or we will reorganize our forces in order to support 100 percent the Task Force Bangon Marawi,” he added.
Galvez believes the rehabilitation will be a success based on his discussions with Secretary Eduardo Del Rosario of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) who currently chairs the inter-agency task force charged with the recovery, reconstruction, and rehabilitation of Marawi City.
“I’ve been there in Marawi and spoke regularly with Secretary Del Rosario. He said to me that they already conducted consultations and based on his statement the consultations have been favorable. If you could only see the plan, (it’s) very beautiful,” he added.
Meanwhile, Galvez said the Task Force has programs lined up from May 17 to 23, as part of an effort to commemorate the first year anniversary of the Marawi siege.
The total cost of the massive rehabilitation of Marawi was estimated at P72 billion, with P17.2 billion covering the development of the main city and some 24 barangays; while around R55 billion will be use for the rehabilitation of nearby towns.