After more than two years of work, happy that this paper on inclusion and exclusion in humanitarian and peacebuilding action in the Bangsamoro is finally out, co-written with Bam Baraguir and John Bryant. This is part of a larger cross-country research project, with the BARMM work supporting similar deep-dives in Nigeria and Bangladesh. Also extremely happy that ODI’s HPG agreed to release the summary in Filipino, Maguindanaon, and Sinug. A Teduray version was initially planned but might not be possible for various reasons.
As part of the dissemination process, John and I also had a conversation on the highlights of the study. Timestamps for the good stuff: 3:58 for Datu Shattar Zailon of the Maguindanao-based Moro International Students Association and 9:37 for Fahadah and Ramadan, IDP youth leaders of Reclaiming Marawi Movement.
Kowa-kawn sa kopya “Miyakapira Ragon so Kapakambabakwit? A Review of Post-Marawi Crisis Rehabilitation and Reconstruction, 2017-2020 (Phindiyorobasaan sa Mranaw)” IMANTO DEN!
Giyangkai a piyaka-kampet a osayan, phindiyorobasaan ago initogalin sa basa a Mranaw i Tirmizy E. Abdullah, Ph.D., na miyapento ago miyapakarayag iyan so manga olowan a kiyamamesan ago so manga mosawer (recommendations) phoon ko asal a miya-amad a thotol a inisorat i Ica Fernandez ago piyaki-bembar a INCITEGov ko October 2021. (Ilayangka sa: https://www.facebook.com/106515049435895/posts/4604566522964036).
Sii ko taman a kakekenalawn ko October 2021, na 17,060 a manga pamilya na kasasagadan iran so karamosayan ko kiyalanggay o kapakambabakwit / kapakapago-oyag sabap ko kiyasanaat a Marawi ko 2017 (2017 Marawi siege). Liyo roo pen, na o da a Marawi Compensation bill na madakel ko manga bakwit / maginged na di iran maphembalay sharoman so manga walay iran, taman imanto na da pen maka-apas ago matanto giyangkoto a kitab. Giyai i manga ped ko diden mipheshomala a manga awida-akal ko gii katharagombalaya sa Marawi (Marawi rehabilitation) a paliyogat so masambot a kabegi ron imoleng ago panagontaman, mlagid den so kapapantagan a manga olowan, opisyal, ago bebegan sa kapaar sa baba (local) ago poro (national) a gobirno ago so pen so makaphiphikir a pamangped sa politika a manga kandidato a popontariyaan iran a kapamakataban iran sa kadato ago posisyon ko May 2022 a kapheshasamili sa manga olowan / eleksyon (May 2022 polls). O antonaa i mapheniniyat ago mapipikir a okit o manga kandidato ko kasangora iran a panagontaman sangkai a manga awida-akal mipantag ko kamamanosiyai, kalilinding, kasisiyapa ko pagtaw a ped ko manga plataporma iran na nganin a taralbi a katitikayan ago maiinengka o pagtaw ago maginged.
Back in early 2020 I was asked by several Mranaw civil society leaders to help them put together a technical stock-take of available data on post-Marawi Siege reconstruction efforts. At the time, the report of the BTA Special Committee on Marawi had not been written yet, and there was a very real fear that commitments for rebuilding the city and helping residents return home and get back on their feet would be forgotten after the Duterte administration and if the BARMM extension were not approved. Although it seems that the BARMM transition will continue until 2025, these fears of abandonment are still very real particularly with election season in full swing and no Compensation Bill in sight. Everything is still a moving target (just ask the residents of Jolo about what happened to them since the 1970s).
In other countries the standard practice for public responses to massive crisis events would be to conduct a serious assessment, my favorite example being the Multi-Stakeholder Review done three years after the Aceh reconstruction process, covering both tsunami relief and peace agreement implementation with the GAM/Free Aceh Movement. For that to happen in the Philippines, that means that the national government, along with regional and local actors, the private sector and the international development community will need to be open and frank about hard questions that need answering. All we can hope for is that the current commitment of allowing residents to return by December 2021 will be honored, and a real Compensation bill passed into law ASAP.
In the meantime, everything in this report, published by INCITEGov with support from Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Philippines, is a small yet hopeful initial contribution to the transitional justice and reconciliation agenda. It is by no means definitive, but we try to ask the right questions and point to all the key analysis out there, particularly the BTA SCM report, which is informed by extensive consultations and notably, Mranaw economist Assad Baunto’sthorough analysis; reports from the many CSOs/NGOs and donors working on the ground (including citizen group MRCW and law group IDEALS); by journalists and truth-tellers Criselda Yabes and Carmela Fonbuena; not to mention the thousands of accounts of Mranaw residents and community leaders over the years. The report also benefits immensely from the budget analysis of the NDRRM fund by the Institute for Leadership, Empowerment and Democracy led by Zy-za Nadine Suzara. I’m just sorry that this does not include analysis regarding procurement and implementation quality, or much after year end 2020, which I hope that others can do. All of this is meant to be constructive technical engagement in good faith, which must continue now and well beyond the next few years. And no, this is not about what color you’re wearing or not wearing for the elections—this is about making sure that people get to go home, and that future commitments to all IDPs everywhere will be honored regardless of whoever is in power in Cotabato and Malacanang.
The report is now available for download on the following platforms:
P.S. Our service is to the living, but this too must honor the dead, including the peaceworkers who made this possible — birthday celebrant sa langit ma’am Linky, ma’am Dinky Soliman, and sir Gus C.
Notes from the Field 