ILIGAN City – The Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society Inc. (CVCS) conducted here a “Listening Process” among civil society organizations based in Marawi City and Lanao del Sur concerning the Marawi crisis early this week. CVCS chairman Guiamal Alim of Cotabato City told this paper that the activity aimed to gather information, observations, feelings and perceptions of the persons displaced by the Marawi incident. He said the answers to the following questions were gathered to form part of the narratives that would substantiate the work of transitional justice, looking at the truth of what happened in the past to reparation of the victims and seeking justice and building the necessary institutional reforms to prevent the recurrence of violence in the future. He explained that the participants were asked to answer the following questions:
  1. What do you know triggered the Marawi crisis?
  2. In the Marawi crisis, who do you think are the perpetrators or victims?
  3. During the battle (war) what stories would you know, what happened?
  4. Tell something about humanitarian assistance, your observations?
  5. What do you think should be the treatment to the perpetrators?
  6. How should the victims be dealt with?
  7. What are your grievances and how do expect these to be dealt with?
  8. What do you think is the immediate help that the victims need?
  9. What do you need are the structural remedies to the crisis?
  10. What are your personal reflections on the matter? and
  11. What should be the role of the CSOs in the short term and long term solutions?
Each of the participants was given 10 minutes to answer the foregoing questions and report their answers, Alim said. It was observed during the presentation that most of the participants have not grasped what really happened in Marawi. Most of them are wondering how Marawi looks like after the devastation and are anxious to see what are left of their homes, Alim said. At the end, Alim told this paper that the group will meet again to come up with a clearer report and a more comprehensive narrative of what happened and what should be done by the CSOs in the short term rebuilding of Marawi and the long term institutional reforms to be made to prevent the recurrence of that violent incident. (frank dosdos jr.)