SWS: Majority of Filipinos satisfied with Duterte admin's efforts to rebuild Marawi
Philippine Marines, marching in formation alongside armoured personnel carriers, head to the frontline past damaged buildings in the Mapandi area of Marawi on the southern island of Mindanao on Aug. 30, 2017. AFP/Ferdinandh Cabrera
MANILA, Philippines — Majority of Filipinos are satisfied with the government’s efforts to rebuild Marawi City, according to a Social Weather Stations poll which also found most respondents thinking it would take five years or more for the battle-scarred city to completely recover.
In a rousing address to troops, President Rodrigo Duterte last month declared Marawi—which was stormed by heavily-armed militants on May 23—liberated from pro-ISIS extremists after two terrorist leaders were killed in a targeted military operation.
Four days after the president’s announcement, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana declared an end to combat operations in Marawi after five months of intense fighting that left the city in ruins.
In its third quarter survey conducted on September 23 to 27, SWS found 77 percent of Filipino adults saying they were satisfied with the steps taken by the Duterte administration in restoring Marawi.
On the other hand, only 8 percent of the respondents polled by SWS said they were dissatisfied with the government’s work in reviving the besieged city while 15 percent were undecided.
That yielded a net satisfaction rating of +70, which the pollster classified as “excellent.”
Satisfaction with undertakings to reconstruct Marawi was likewise “excellent” in the restive southern region of Mindanao and in the country’s capital.
Most urban dwellers and college graduates were also pleased with the way Marawi is being restored.
By religion, Muslims gave the Duterte government a “very good” satisfaction score in rehabilitating Marawi, the only predominantly Muslim city in the mainly Catholic Philippines.
Meanwhile, 53 percent of Filipinos surveyed—most of whom from Mindanao and central region of Visayas—qualified that operations for Marawi’s full recovery could stretch to five years or beyond.
Forty-six percent said bringing back normalcy to Marawi could take one to four years while the remaining one percent was undecided. “It hardly varied across locale, educational level, and religion,” SWS said.
Lorenzana earlier said the Budget Department allocated “about P5 billion” this year for Marawi’s rehabilitation. For 2018, the defense chief said the government is looking into a budget of P10 billion to restore the city.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development has recorded at least 77,000 persons displaced by the bloody Marawi siege.
A total of 70,000 individuals have so far returned to their homes in Marawi, the government said.
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