As the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) prepares for its upcoming parliamentary elections, Maranao internally displaced persons (IDPs) continue to demand justice, rehabilitation, and accountability post-Marawi siege.

Under former President Rodrigo Duterte, lands in four heavily affected barangays were expropriated for reconstruction, preventing many residents from returning, while in the current Marcos Jr. administration, IDPs continue to express frustration over the absence of concrete rehabilitation plans in President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s 4th State of the Nation Address.

Marawi Advocacy Accompaniment Co-Coordinator Tirmizi Abdullah revealed that more than 80,000 individuals are still living in transitional shelters across Marawi and nearby towns, originally designated for only five years, but have now become semi-permanent.

“Marami na’ng pinanganak sa shelters, lumaki na ang pamilya. Hindi na sila kasya sa mga shelters… ‘Yung ibang mga IDPs nag-rerenta na kasi natapos na yung pumunta ng kontrata sa mga shelters. Karamihan kasi five years. So, dahil nag-end na, kukunin na ng landowners ang lupa,” he said.

Abdullah noted that the plight of IDPs has been taken out of national attention, saying that there is an ongoing narrative that the Marawi situation has improved, even though it’s far from reality. 

After the 5-year contract between the government and landowners of relocation sites, he pointed out that IDPs were either forced to vacate the area or pay rent, and repeated appeals to the local government have remained unclear.

“Nakailang beses na itong dinala sa ating LGU, pero ang tingin namin ay hindi klaro ang response nila as to this one. Kasi may mga dialogue na sinasabi na su-solusyonan nila but when we conducted [dialogue] – nagtatanong ang mga IDPS, walang nata-transfer na actions sa baba. Kaya patuloy itong sumusulpot na issue sa shelters.”

He affirmed the concept of kambalingan, which means safe and dignified return, must guide rehabilitation efforts. 

“Habang tumatagal ang compensation mas lalong makihirap o mas lalong nadadagdagan ang injustices na naku-commit against our IDPs; Tulad ng apat na barangay na permanently displaced. [Kailangang] matugunan ang problema nila sa lupa at maibalik sa kanila ang lupa. Ma-compensate sila sa kanilang lupa. Part po yan ng safe and dignified return or kambalingan,” he said. 

Director of Al Qalam Institute of Ateneo de Davao University and former member of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority Parliament, Mussolini Sinsuat Lidasan, highlighted that legal and cultural complexities are among the factors that have slowed down reparations. 

“In one Maranao household, you can find several families under one roof. How do you decide who is entitled to compensation? These are realities the government must reconcile.”

Lidasan added that for the Bangsamoro people, particularly the Maranaos, resilience is rooted in their cultural identity, bound in their community rather than solely in land.

“Overall, I think Maranaos are very resilient people. In the long run, I think if we can find a better way, the Maranao people can also regain Marawi…There are several other massacres, many other conflicts in the past. But most of the Bangsamoro people are still anchored in their identity. Not mainly dependent on the location or the land, but it’s within their families,” he added. 

In the legal aspect, he further asserted that transitional justice mechanisms must be integrated into rehabilitation efforts. 

“Some portion of the Marawi land is actually a military reservation. Although it’s a military reservation, there are some Maranao people living in the area. So if we apply the principle of transitional justice, it goes beyond the creation of the Republic—before panaging military reservation, it’s already been the ancestral land of the Maranaw people,” he explained.

On the upcoming BARMM elections, Lidasan expressed skepticism over whether they will meaningfully address Marawi’s issue, urging the need for proper funding mechanisms and a framework grounded in transitional justice. 

“The Bangsamoro Parliament is not enough to address the issue of Marawi,” he said.

He stressed that the rehabilitation is in line with other key commitments under the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, such as the decommissioning process. 

“If we apply the principle of transitional justice, it goes beyond the creation of the Republic. Before it became a military reservation,  it was already the ancestral land of the Maranao people,” Lidasan added.
As of August 2025, data from the Marawi Compensation Board (MCB) revealed that only 2,178 out of 14,495 processed claims accounted for around 15% of compensation claims, despite having a P1 billion proposed allocation budget under the Marawi Siege Victims Compensation Program of the 2026 National Expenditure Program.

Editor’s Note: This article was first issued in the December 2025 First Semester Newsletter of Atenews.