Several experts on environmental planning and disaster recovery have underscored that there were lessons learned from the rehabilitation effort after the 2013 super typhoon Yolanda that could be applied in rebuilding the war-shattered Islamic City of Marawi.
The key, they pointed out, is the close involvement of the Marawi residents, including the local government unit (LGU), traditional leaders, and local civil groups.
In Wednesday’s forum organized by the Alliance for Safe, Sustainable and Resilient Environments (ASSURE) dubbed “Marawi: Building It Back Better,” professionals from Mindanao also pointed out the cultural and socioeconomic factors that should best be considered in the Marawi rehabilitation plans.
According to ASSURE president and urban planner Nathaniel von Einsiedel, the lack of participation of locals in the planning, implementation, and monitoring of the rebuilding efforts has been observed as one of the lapses in the Yolanda rehabilitation.
Top-down, national govt-centric
He added that efforts at the time were too “national government-centric.”
“It was a very strong top-down kind of an approach. The LGUs were almost totally not involved in the rehabilitation and recovery planning. It was all the national government that was dictating,” he said.
“There were no clear implementation arrangements and modalities that would allow the LGUs and the communities to actively participate,” he added.
ASSURE also noted that there was no standard recovery and rehabilitation framework during the aftermath of Yolanda. Only guidelines were imposed on confused LGUs by different national agencies working disparately from each other.
This kind of approach, von Einsiedel noted, spawned delays in the various projects that were supposed to benefit the typhoon-shocked residents of Eastern Visayas.
Confusion, bleeding of money, resources
“In all the confusion, a lot of money, resources, time and effort were dissipated, bled away” he said.
The same sentiments were echoed by Oliver Cam, the private business point person of the Tacloban Recovery and Rehabilitation Program.
He said national government officials did not initially consult with local businessmen on the ground during the aftermath of the super typhoon.
“The single biggest mistake or omission goes back to not consulting the local people. We have more local knowledge and resources that the government never realized we had,” he said.
He cited one particular situation where the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) encountered problems bringing in relief goods due to port congestion at Matnog, Sorsogon and Liloan, Leyte.
Local knowledge
Local businessmen later informed the unaware DSWD officials and other national government officials the existence of 11 ports on the western side of the region.
“Local knowledge is key. Therefore, if there’s a way, in the case of Marawi, to interact with the local players, local distributors, the local business people, one can see they are a crucial and essential part of it,” Cam said.
Musyarawah decision-making
For his part, ex-congressman and former ambassador Macabangkit Lanto discussed in the forum the practice of decision-making called Musyawarah in Mindanao, which comes from a Malay word meaning consultation.
“If there is something big that the sultan or the datu will implement, or a project or undertaking, people consult each other. That’s what we call Musyawarah…Because of the stakeholders’ involvement in the so-called Musyawarah, a sense of ownership gets hatched, everybody is on the same page, and they try their eager best to make the project successful,” Lanto said.
Meanwhile, Mindanao State University (MSU) civil engineering professor Glen Lorenzo pointed out the importance of consensus-participatory governance in the Marawi recovery efforts in preventing another conflict from forming in the area.
“There should be consensus on the plan among the locals, especially the IDPs (internally-displaced persons). Otherwise, we are just creating another conflict if we will not give them participation in what’s going to be done,” he said.
Peace building, conflict avoidance
He further said the government should see that the Marawi siege was a conflict-driven disaster, so all initiatives in the rehabilitation process should also integrate a peace-building, conflict-avoidance component.
“We have to see to it that it is going to promote a culture of peace. All initiatives must be culture-sensitive and distrust-free and geared towards peace. No action or plan shall be implemented if it will just lead to another conflict,” he said.
For example, Lorenzo said, the government has to rebuild not only the public infrastructures but also the private structures that were badly damaged.
“Because what’s the purpose of rebuilding the public utilities if the people, the direct beneficiaries have residual grievances? They will recruit people to destroy your structures,” he warned.
Distrust in the government has also been apparently seething among Marawi residents after the siege and hostilities, Lorenzo pointed out.
He warned that if government implements the rehabilitation projects improperly, another layer of distrust among the Marawi residents would take shape against the government.
Inclusivity
On the other hand, Mindanaoan Ben Quiñones, former director of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Grameen Replication Program, said the involvement of sultans and datus, traditional leaders in Mindanao, was observed to be one of the major factors behind the success of some projects.
“The Muslims have the utmost respect for their datu or sultan. They have much respect for professionals, doctors, those who belong to the noble status. And this constitutes the nonformal authority,” he said.
“Initiatives or projects that succeeded almost always recognized and appreciated the importance of this nonformal structure. They were consulted. All plans were discussed with them. They were given space to participate in the overall approach,” he added.
Culture sensitivity
Sociologist Nona Londonio reminded that the sociopolitical and economic initiatives in Marawi should benefit all cultural sectors, including Christians and Lumads, for an inclusive sustainable development.
She also urged encouraging a deeper understanding of the Maranao culture beyond the superficial public perception and stereotypes.
UN-Habitat country manager Cris Rollo said reconstruction of shelters in Marawi should deviate from the usual government practice of relocation and construction of rows of houses in consideration of the very strong family ties among Maranaos.
“The approach, precisely, in Marawi, I think, should be pockets of communities built around the clans, the families,” Rollo said.
A Marawi resident, former Lanao del Sur Rep. Lanto, meanwhile called for the immediate construction of madrasahs or Muslim schools as well as mosques in communities.
He also suggested the integration of traditional Maranao designs, like Okir or Sarimaok, in the construction of infrastructures.
Lanto also stressed the need to improve the water distribution system in Marawi in consideration of the Maranaos’ strict observance of Friday Salah or Friday prayers.