This was the spot where people loved to pose when in Marawi. It is now peppered with bullet holes. This “I Love Marawi” site is located beside Lake Lanao. Photo by BOBBY TIMONERA
EXACTLY A YEAR AGO today, President Rodrigo R. Duterte declared the “liberation” of the Islamic City of Marawi City from the clutches of Islamist militants.
But before that happened, in five months starting May 2017, soldiers and policemen carpet-bombed and reduced Marawi to a massive wasteland.
Twelve months had lapsed since Duterte declared Marawi “liberated” on Oct. 17, 2017. But the ruin and the rubble remain, and tens of thousands of the Meranaws are still unable to return to their homes and their lives.
In pictures, see but also hear and feel the tragedy that lingers still in Marawi.
One of the damaged mosques at Ground Zero in Marawi City, as of May 8, 2018. MindaNews photo by H. MARCOS C. MORDENO
A resident is seen through a spyhole checking out her damaged house in Marawi City on April 5, 2018. Daesh-inspired gunmen cut through houses using spyholes as they fought government troops for more than five months last year. Task Force Bangon Marawi allowed 1,200 residents to visit their homes in Sector 2. A total of 24,000 residents will be permitted to visit their houses to retrieve their personal belongings and possessions at the Main Affected Areas in Marawi City. Photo by FROILAN GALLARDO
