Rebuild Communities, Not Profit Zones: Justice for Marawi Now!

KATRIBU Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas stands in unwavering solidarity with the Maranao people and the entire Bangsamoro as we mark the 9th anniversary of the 2017 Marawi siege—a devastating assault that displaced hundreds of thousands, destroyed homes and communities, and left deep wounds that remain unhealed nearly a decade later.

Under the pretext of “counterterrorism,” the Duterte administration responded to the siege with relentless aerial bombardment, artillery shelling, and the declaration of Martial Law across Mindanao. Entire communities were reduced to rubble. More than 350,000 people were displaced, families were torn apart, livelihoods destroyed, and generations of Maranao children were left carrying the trauma of war and forced displacement.

Instead of delivering justice and genuine peace, Martial Law intensified militarization across Mindanao and worsened the historical marginalization already faced by Moro and Indigenous Peoples. Across ancestral lands and Moro territories, military rule enabled harassment, forced evacuations, and attacks against communities resisting land grabbing, mining, plantations, dams, and other destructive projects. This same militarist framework continues today through large-scale military operations and war exercises such as the Balikatan Exercises, which disrupt civilian communities and reinforce foreign military intervention and imperialist control in our lands and waters.

Nine years later, thousands of Maranao families are still unable to return home. Many remain trapped in inadequate shelters and resettlement sites with poor access to water, healthcare, education, and sustainable livelihood. Others continue to endure displacement in nearby cities and provinces while facing worsening poverty, rising prices of basic goods, unemployment, and insecurity. These hardships are aggravated by deepening economic crisis, corruption, and the plunder of public funds that should have gone to social services and genuine rehabilitation.

The government’s so-called rehabilitation program has been marked by delays, broken promises, and neglect. Marcos Jr.’s move to further extend rehabilitation timelines only exposes the continuing failure of the state to uphold the rights and welfare of the people of Marawi. What is unfolding in Marawi is not genuine rehabilitation but a manifestation of bureaucrat capitalism. Instead of prioritizing the safe and dignified return of displaced residents, large portions of Marawi are being transformed into commercial centers, investment zones, and business districts that benefit our officials, corporations, and interests of the US.

As Indigenous Peoples, we recognize that the struggle of the Maranao and Bangsamoro people is inseparable from the struggles of Lumad, Cordillera Peoples, Mangyan, Aeta, Tumandok, and other Indigenous communities defending ancestral lands, self-determination, and collective rights. Moro and Indigenous communities alike continue to be treated as sacrifice zones for militarization, war, plunder, and imperialist interests. Which is why we call for justice and accountability for the devastation wrought upon Marawi and the prolonged suffering of its people. We demand genuine rehabilitation that centers the rights, welfare, culture, and dignity of displaced Maranao communities.

Reference: Funa-ay Claver, Secretary General