Zubiri wants martial law in Mindanao to remain till year-end

By NORA SORIÑO
GSD-Iligan bureau chief

SEN. Juan Miguel Zubiri on Monday said the martial law in Mindanao should remain in effect until year-end.

Zubiri said he feared that there could still be remnants or supporters of the Maute Group as well as booby traps and crude bombs in strife-torn Marawi.

The region being “purous,” Zubiri said it would be easy for them to move about in several areas in Mindanao, recalling that the parents of the Maute brothers were arrested in Davao even as former Marawi mayor Fajad Salic was also caught not in Marawi but in Misamis Oriental.

With martial law still in effect, it would be difficult for the Maute group followers or sympathizers to pursue their ends, he said.

Zubiri noted that an Army officer who was romantically linked to an Abu Sayyaf member is from Malaybalay City in Bukidnon.

He also called for an investigation into the possible links of some local government officials, both incumbent and past officials.

Zubiri said it would be good for members of Congress to go to Marawi so that they would be in a position to see how it is there. He said this can be done before the year ends.

He estimated the rehabilitation of Marawi to cost as much as P50 billion. If possible, he said, th funds for this should be in the General Appropriations Act and not in a supplemental budget.

The government “has to do it right,” this time, said Zubiri, citing the government’s failure in rehabilitation efforts in the aftermath of typhoon Yolanda.