Palace on Trillanes call to probe Marawi rehab: Only politics

May 24, 2018

Malacanang on Thursday said Senator Antonio Trillaness IV's request to probe the Marawi crisis and its rehabilitation is all "politics".

The senator filed two Senate resolutions to look into why the Marawi siege happened and the government's effort to rebuild and rehabilitate the city.

"It's only politics. It's not true that there are no master plan on the rebuilding of Marawi. We have Task Force Marawi and since the beginning we are following a master plan," Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a media briefing in Marawi.

"It's phase by phase and by and large, we are on time. It just so happen that the priority is the evacuees," he added.

Roque said the government is prioritizing the displaced residents first and the rebuilding of ground zero, where the battle happened, is secondary.

"What is important is the right of the evacuees to have a normal life," he said, citing that the different agencies have been providing them assistance, such as on housing, education, food and livelihood, among others.

He said the government could not agree with the conclusions of Trillanes.

However, he assured that the administration and the Task Force Bangon Marawi would cooperate in any investigation.

Trillanes filed Senate Resolution No. 743 urging the Senate Committee on National Defense and Security to investigate why Marawi fell into the hands of Islamic State-inspired terrorists.

He said the investigation aims to prevent a similar situation from happening again.

In his separate Senate Resolution No. 742, he urged the Senate Special Committee on Marawi City Rehabilitation to look into the status of rebuilding efforts, noting that the government has yet to present a comprehensive plan. Ella Dionisio/DMS