Foreign biz groups raise security concerns in Marawi aftermath

The Philippine government must now ensure that security concerns in the country are addressed for the long-term, according to foreign business groups as they cheered the liberation of Marawi City after nearly five months of intense fighting.

"My fear is that it's like a hydra in the sense when you cut off one head, another head will grow until the environment in which the hydra grows is radically improved," John Forbes, senior adviser of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (AmCham), told GMA News Online on the sidelines of the EU-Philippines Business Summit in Parañaque City.

"It's been a long ongoing problem. Just ending the fighting in Marawi is not going to solve the problem until the issues that disturb the minority groups in the south are resolved and until economic development and education improves to levels that will reduce the level of poverty there," he added.

Government troops killed on Monday the leaders of ISIS-linked Maute group and Abu Sayaff—Isnilon Hapilon, the reported emir of the Islamic State in Southeast Asia, and the Maute group leader Omar Maute, during a hostage rescue operation.

President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday declared Marawi City has been liberated from the influence of terrorists.

Forbes said the government must now focus on rehabilitating the war-torn city and ensuring economic growth in the area.

"There's certainly a lot of attention being paid now to the reconstruction of Marawi and that's really important. So I hope they get that right because these issues have been festering for some four or five decades, and it's time to resolve them," he said.

European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) president Guenter Taus said European businesses fully support the Philippine business sector, especially in Mindanao.

"We are very happy that finally, it is over because it took very long. We were in Mindanao a couple of times in the last two months, working with Mindanao, assuring Mindanao our full support for Marawi, in Mindanao in total," he told reporters separately.

"We said we will bring investors there, but we need to make sure that the peace and order situation is clear, which now has been done. So I guess we go back and we start discussions with Mindanao," he added.

Taus noted the ECCP is open to working with the government on rehabilitating Marawi.

"We will look at it now and see how we can help in rebuilding Marawi. I believe the EU is ready with some grants to make sure that it happens," he said.

Taus said the business sector is also hoping that martial law, which Duterte imposed in Mindanao on May 23, will be lifted.

The period was set to end on July 22, but Duterte asked Congress to extend martial law until December 31 this year.

"I think the confidence level is here. And, I guess, as soon as martial law is lifted, we should be all green and go for trying to rebuild and help business to be established in Mindanao," Taus said.

However, Taus noted the government must assure that concerns have already been addressed and contained.

"Let's hope it stays that way—that the situation's really contained and doesn't flame up somewhere else," he said.

"I think it's important, first, for the government to establish what is going to happen, how you want the roadmap to be laid out, and how do we start. We're open to looking at this situation from different angles," he added. — VDS, GMA News