Evacuees postpone return to Marawi, stage State-of-Bakwit Address

MARAWI CITY – Internally displaced persons (IDPs) have agreed to reset their homecoming to this war-torn city to a later date on persuasion of five cabinet members, opting instead to stage a State-of-Bakwit Address (SOBA) in Iligan City in time for President Duterte’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) today.Members of the Ranaw Ulama-Leaders Conference, during a dialogue with government officials led by Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana in Iligan City yesterday, said they will do their symbolic march back to their homes after the President’s SONA and after government authorities have declared Marawi City safe again.Homecoming planners led by Alim Abu Muhammad Sarangani and other Maranao religious leaders heeded the pleas of Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, Abdullah Mama-o (Muslim concerns), Guiling Mamondiong (technical education), and Abul Khayr Alonto of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) during a meeting in Iligan City on Sunday, Bulletin sources said.The five cabinet officials in their bargain for postponement pledged to help provide transport facilities and safe travel for the participants on a date after the SONA of the President, according to Alinair Decampong, who witnessedSunday’sdialog.In view of the agreed homecoming delay, leading IDP personalities would stage a SOBA to ventilate the evacuees’ concerns and aspirations in a convergence at the Ma’had Al-Nor Al Islami Madrasa along Ceanuri Subdivision in Iligan City, fellow event organizer Drieza Abato Lininding said.In a Facebook postSundaynight, Lininding said they would hold the SOBA also to air their protest to the five-month extension of martial law by Congress and set a new date for the evacuees’ march to this city.During the SOBA, Lininding stressed in Maranao dialect their intent to air our dismay over the extended martial law and disclose the true plights of IDPs jam-packed in evacuation camps in Iligan and Cagayan de Oro cities and elsewhere in Northern Mindanao.Initially, he said, the homecoming organizers were amenable to pursuing the evacuees’ march either onJuly 25or 26 subject to final decision by leading IDPs from the religious, youth, professional and women sectors during yesterday’s convergence.Lininding told the Manila Bulletin that evacuees could no longer bear alleged cases of discrimination and unsanitary conditions in evacuation centers, citing a recent report by the Department of Health about the death of at least 40 evacuees from various ailments.Lininding acknowledged warnings by intervening quarters about imminent risks in an unauthorized homecoming of evacuees especially along highly protected military checkpoints leading to this city.But he explained that the evacuees would not in any way make any provocative acts during a homecoming. We just would like to personally see the remnants of our abandoned houses…We want to start new life…A longer stay in evacuation centers is already unbearable, Lininding said.Over the weekend, Bishop Edwin dela Peña of the Marawi Prelature expressed sympathy with the evacuees, saying the Occupy Marawi event could dramatize the Marawi women’s sentiments over the fighting in their native land.In the same dialogue, the Ulamas also urged the government to reopen schools, particularly the Mindanao State University, government offices and private establishments in the city as soon as these are declared safe.They also recommended the reopening of roads, particularly along Rorogagus-Guimba-Maliwanag-Ramain in Lanao del Sur and Bito-Capitol Complex-Awar Street-Amai Pakpak Avenue-Marantao.The council also requested the immediate burial of the deceased and the prompt investigation of abuses and violations of any party in the proper forum.Lorenzana explained to them that it is not yet possible for the government to allow them to go back to their homes since the fighting in Marawi is still intense. We want you to go back to your homes but we cannot be sure when as of the moment, said Lorenzana. Human lives are precious to us that is why we want to make sure that by the time you return to your homes, you will already be safe, he added. We do not want this war to prolong, Lorenzana added. We hope you will understand that we are fighting a different kind of enemy, said Lieutenant General Carlito G. Galvez, Jr., Commander of the Western Mindanao Command. Your soldiers die every day and are making sacrifices just to liberate Marawi from terror. Your soldiers are fighting not for Marawi alone but for the entire country against these animals who wish to disrupt our normal way of life. We need you to understand the situation. We need you to have more patience, Galvez said.The convention, dubbed as I will be back, Wait for Me, Marawi held in the City of Iligan was attended by Marawi residents and the followingand Sec. Lorenzana OPAPP Undersecretary Diosita Andot Office of the Presidential Adviser for the OFW Abdullah Mamao Secretary of the Mindanao Development Authority Datu AbulKhayr Alonto Undersecretary for Defense Operations of the Department of National Defense Undersecretary Cesar Yano Lieutenant General Carlito G. Galvez, Jr., Commander, Western Mindanao Command Congressman Mauyag Papandayan, 2nd district Datu Bangcola Adtha, Sultan sa Rogan, Secretary General of the Royal House Doctor Ali Laguindab, representing the professional sector Secretary Guiling Mamondiong of TESDA former Marawi Councilor Anwar Marabu Alim Sarangani, representing the religious sector and Dr. Safrullah Dipatuan, BDA MILF Chairman the Ranao Rescue Group Ranao Ulamah Leaders and other non-government groups.