Housing czar Eduardo del Rosario is now in war-torn Marawi City, Lanao del Sur to personally assess and inspect the place’s ongoing rehabilitation, and to break ground on several other infrastructure projects.
“A promise made is a promise kept,” he said.
Del Rosario said President Rodrigo Duterte has already approved the release of P3.56 billion to the different implementing agencies for the completion of their projects and programs, citing the approval as a positive development.
“Our timetable for completion will be within the term of President Duterte. And we are on target,” he said.
Del Rosario, as Department of Human Settlement and Urban Development secretary, led a lighting ceremony organized by the Lanao del Sur Electric Cooperative Inc., which started setting up power distribution lines inside the Marawi “most affected area” in July ahead of ground zero’s nearing full energization.
He is set to grace a demolition ceremony of the Bato Mosque in Barangay Dansalan with members of a royal clan, before leading the groundbreaking of a fire station in Barangay Moncado Kadingilan, to attend the launching of a public school, and to carry out inspections on other ongoing projects not only inside the most affected area but also in other parts of Marawi.
“As committed, almost all infrastructure projects within the most affected area are now in full blast,” he said. “With this, we remain confident that we can beat the December 2021 deadline.”
A five-month-long armed conflict between government forces and rebel terrorists began on May 23, 2017, forcibly displacing 98 percent of the city’s total population and severely destroying homes and other infrastructure in the area.
