1,300 ‘bakwit’ families in Marawi face eviction in November

MARAWI CITY (MindaNews / 19 Oct) – More than 1,300 families of internally displaced persons, or “bakwits,” are facing eviction once the lease agreement between the government and landowners cease by November, while many more will suffer the same fate in the following months.

_{A total of 1,300 “bakwit” families in temporary shelters in Barangay Sagonsongan at the outskirts of Marawi City are facing eviction by next month. Photographed on 17 October 2022 by FROILAN GALLARDO / MindaNews}

Marawi City Mayor Majul Gandamra said the government signed the lease agreements with the landowners during the “emergency situation” right after the Marawi siege in 2017 where thousands of residents lost their homes and properties during the five-month fighting.

“Kailangan natin ng malaking lupa. Hindi ganoon kabilis magbili ng tens of hectares ng land (We needed vast tracts of land quickly. It was not easy to buy land in tens of hectares),” Gandamra said.

The mayor said when the government agencies entered into an agreement with the landowners in 2017, they did not expect there would be problem in the construction of the houses.

Gandamra said the land lease agreements entered by the government with the landowners included 20 hectares in Barangay Sagonsongan, 20 hectares in Barangay Boganga, five hectare in Barangay Dulay, and three hectares in Barangay Patani.

He said all the agreements have five-year tenures, which could end in November 2022 to February 23.

“Those in Barangay Sagonsongan would be the first to be affected. Around 1,300 families in all,” Gandamra said.

The mayor said some 1,800 families living in temporary shelters would be affected in Barangay Boganga and another 500 families in Barangay Dulay.

He said a total of 4,000 families living in temporary shelters in these barangays would face eviction unless the government and landowners come into a new agreement.

“When we entered into agreement with the landowners, the problem of housing for the IDPs were expected to be solved within five years. We did not expect it to last long like this,” Gandamra said.

He said the National Housing Authority and other agencies are presently negotiating with the landowners.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said over 25,300 families or 127,000 individuals were displaced in the 2017 fighting. (Froilan Gallardo / MindaNews)