Displaced Marawi residents allege discrimination

April 26, 2018

Residents from Marawi displaced by the war between government  security forces and Islamic State-inspired Maute fighters last year continue to experience discrimination.

Zahria Muti-Mapandi, chairperson of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos Al-Mujadilah Development Foundation Inc., claimed on Thursday internally displaced persons from Marawi are being treated poorly.

She cited a case where Marawi residents were evicted from houses they bought in Barangay Santa Elena, Iligan City.

Mapandi alleged these houses which were sold by victims of typhoon Sendong even before the war started on May 23, 2017.

“When the local government learned these were being occupied by Maranaos, they locked the housing units,” Mapandi said in a forum by the Center for Media Freedom and Responsiblity (CMFR) in Quezon City.

She said there are approximately 20,000 internally displaced persons in Iligan and other areas outside of Marawi.

There are still instances, according to Mapandi, where apartment owners refuse to rent out their properties to people if they learn they are Maranaos.

Other apartment owners double prices of their rentals, from P7,000 to P15,000 a month, if the person they are dealing with is from Marawi.

Some Marawi residents deal with people who blame them for the war , accusing them of allowing Maute terrorists into their city.

“They would tell us go back to Marawi. I would say they are  not Christians,” she said.

Mapandi said it seems some people think they either have ties with Maute rebels or allowed terrorists a safe haven in Marawi.

Samira Guto-Tomawis of Ranao Rescue Team and former member of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission urged the regional Human Rights Commission to look on into the allegations.

“We feel the government is not giving much attention. One case is already a big case,” she said. DMS