Philippines begin to rebuild Marawi City

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines The government on Tuesday began efforts to rebuild Marawi City that was destroyed by an ongoing conflict between government forces and the Daesh-linked Maute group. Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said engineering equipment and personnel are being deployed to Marawi to hasten rebuilding efforts, according to the state-run Philippine News Agency. National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) Executive Director Ricardo Jalad last week promised a faster rehabilitation of the war-torn city, saying the government has learned its lessons from previous calamities. Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said the government would allocate $199 million to rebuild Marawi under a program led by the Department of National Defense (DND). In a statement Tuesday, President Rodrigo Duterte announced he would double the figure proposed by the DND. Padilla said 16 buildings previously held as fortresses by Maute fighters were recovered by government troops. He was not able to give exact figures of the engineering equipment and personnel already in Marawi but said the military is planning to deploy at least two engineering battalions. "Enemy resistance continues to wane and the enemy-held areas continue to diminish as government security forces press its advance,” Padilla was quoted by the Philippine News Agency. “Troops continue to get deeper into once enemy held positions.” The conflict is ongoing but the military stressed it is already confined in four districts Duterte on Tuesday apologized to residents of Marawi for imposing martial law but he vowed to rebuild the city and make it beautiful again. The military aims to wind down fighting by the end of Ramadan that concludes this week. Duterte placed the entire island of Mindanao under martial law on May 23 following attack by the Maute group that torched several buildings, including a Catholic church, a school and a hospital.