S’BANG KA MARAWI Stories from Ranao
September 2018 Vol. 1 No. 2
Maranao mothers get back on their feet MIKHAELA DIMPAS
MARAWI CITY HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE CENTER of trade for the province of Lanao del Sur and other neighboring areas. The Marawi Conflict, however, has dulled down the vibrance of the local merchants and businesses. The longest urban conflict has primarily resulted to lost livelihoods, which meant that people’s access to immediate needs such as food is cut down. A year since the firefight has ended, the lives of the internallydisplaced persons (IDPs) remain marred with issues on civil registration, shelter, sanitation, and damages to property. The mothers of Marawi, however, are now starting to get back on their feet. Losing livelihoods Losing their means to live is never easy, especially for Monera Candidato who has 13 children who she needs to feed, dress, and send to school. She used to have a small sari-sari store in Saduc
Proper in Marawi City while her husband worked as a tricycle driver in the area. Life before wasn’t easy, but they didn’t expect that it would get harder. She and her family survived on relief assistance for more than a year. “We lost everything in the war. I left my store and my husband left his tricycle. As much as we want to start another business here, we can’t because we don’t have the money for capital,” Candidato said. This changed when she received her own Inclusive and Affordable Financial Facilities for Resilient and Developed Filipinos (iAFFORD) Card. A total of 15, 000 IDPs received their cards from Financial Inclusion for Recovery of Marawi (FIRM) Project and 10,000 of them were then selected based on specific vulnerability criteria and became part of the targeted cash transfer program. Rise for their families When Candidato received the first cash grant, she immediately used it to start a business, provide a better
quality of life for her family, and ensure that her children continue their schooling. She acquired firewood from her husband’s brother with the P1,000 (25.90 AUD) she received. Candidato sells this firewood to her fellow IDPs in the Al Markazie Evacuation Center in Balo-i, Lanao del Sur. After all, they also have families to keep warm and prepare food for. “If my child doesn’t have milk anymore or if my child needs fare to go to school, I sell firewood. Without the money I used for capital, we won’t have anything to sell and we won’t have anything to sustain us,” she said. In the same evacuation center, Rakima Edris shared that she has started to appreciate the importance of saving money, especially after what happened after the Marawi Conflict. Edris used to be a fruit and fish vendor in Banggolo, Marawi City, while her husband worked as a construction CONTINUE TO PAGE 3