Cotabato City (February 21, 2020) – Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) Member of Parliament Punduma Sani called for “compensatory justice” for those displaced by the 2017 Marawi Siege on Thursday, February 20.

In his privilege speech during the regular session of the BTA Parliament, Sani said “the compensatory justice substantiates the non-violent solution to the armed struggle in the country.”

“It (compensatory justice) demands permanent shelter with basic amenities, just compensation of damaged properties, economic recovery and speedy return of IDPs (internally displaced persons) to the most affected area (ground zero),” Sani said.

“The psycho-social, health, education and spiritual concerns of the IDPs cannot be relegated to the background as they are part of the holistic recovery.

Sani said the internally displaced Maranaos deserve to “redeem their human dignity through all feasible and sensible means,” adding, “only then will compensatory justice be truly served and enjoyed by the Marawi IDPs.”

He stressed that permanent solutions should be the rule of the day for them.

Task Force Bangon Marawi (TFBM)

As Marawi City is within the territorial jurisdiction of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), Sani further called on President Rodrigo Duterte to let the BARMM be an “integral part of TFBM (Task Force Bangon Marawi)” or should even “take over the challenging responsibilities.”

“Being a BARMM component, it has the legal right to demand access to all resources available for its progress and development as provided for under the Bangsamoro Organic Law,” Sani said.

TFBM is a government inter-agency task force mandated to facilitate the rehabilitation, recovery and reconstruction efforts in Marawi after its siege.(Office of the Secretary General, MIS, Parliament)