Monday 26th June 2017, Vice President of Philippines Ma Leonor (Leni) Robredo visited Marawi city personally to check the status of relief operations put in place by Filipino government.
Recently she visited the wounded soldiers at Adventist Medical Center in Iligan city and also consoled the families of killed soldiers.
According to some officials that is second tour of Vice President to Mindanao after the clashes between government and the Maute group.
Leni said on her weekly hour radio program, Leni said, “We don’t know if we would be allowed to enter Marawi, but if not, we would just go to the nearby areas, in Iligan.”
Leni visited Marawi on the observance of Eid-ul-Fitri, the commemorating after the Holy month of Ramadan. She stated that her office wants to set up temporary centers in Iligan and adjacent cities. She said,
“We already have donors. In fact, they donated chairs that are needed in schools. This is one of the reasons why we are going there. We want to look into how this would materialize as soon as possible.”
She emphasized the importance of education and stressed that armed conflict should not cause any hindrance for students.
In addition to that Marawi is selected for antipoverty program by government and non-government organizations (NGOs).
Earlier this month, a team by government traveled Marawi for war victims. They extended livelihood programs for displaced families. Vice President’s spokesman Georgina Hernandez met Mayor Majul Gandamra and some officials about the discussion of current relief efforts and rehabilitation programs.
According to Manila Bulletin, Georgina said, “They are able to enter Marawi. They came from the provincial capital and city hall. They inspected sites where temporary learning centers would be put up.”
She added, “But because of the incident where a member of the foreign media was shot by a spiner, civilians are not allowed again to enter Marawi.”
However, Vice President Leni tried to accomplish her duty but she is unsure about her arrival to Marawi due to security protocol.
Reporter: Syeda Faiza Bukhari
