The success indicator for the complete rehabilitation of Marawi City from the 2017 siege destruction is when internally displaced persons (IDPs) or residents can return and live in their homes, according to the Task Force Bangon Marawi (TFBM).

In a video message, Presidential Assistant for Marawi Rehabilitation Assistant Secretary Felix Castro Jr. on Tuesday said they are expediting the completion of the housing and infrastructure projects the TFBM has supervised since the term of then-President Rodrigo Duterte.

“We always say that this is about the people, about the Meranaw, and if they could not return to their homes, then the rehabilitation is not complete yet,” Castro said on the sixth anniversary of the Marawi liberation from the Dawlah Islamiya attack.

Most of the projects, he said, are 90 to 95 percent complete, and the focus is now diverting to providing financial assistance to the displaced families through the Marawi Compensation Board.

Assistant Secretary Melissa Aradanas, the TFBM lead representative for the Department of Housing Settlements and Urban Development, said part of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s mandate is to secure immediate completion of the projects.

Meanwhile, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) lined up activities to upgrade Marawi City’s digital infrastructure.

Mario Cuñado, DICT Mainland Bangsamoro and Region 12 (Soccsksargen) director, said DICT is involved in several programs and projects to advance ICT in the city.

One of the programs, he said, includes free Wi-Fi access in public areas across the city.

“We do this to improve communication and enable citizens in the city to have access to government services to fulfill the mandate of restoring the most affected area,” Cuñado said. (PNA)