Maranao mothers get back on their feet

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 the people’s access to immediate needs such as food is cut down. The lives of the internally-displaced persons (IDPs) remain marred with persistent issues on civil registration, shelter, sanitation, and damages to property even almost a year since the firefight has ended.

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.

Monera Candidato, mother of 13 from Saduc Proper, Marawi City, with the firewood she acquired using the cash grant from the Financial Inclusion for Recovery of Marawi (FIRM) Project. She sells this firewood to ensure that she can feed her family and that her children remain in school. Photo by May Anne Caduyac, IDEALS Inc.

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 became part of the 15,000 IDPs who were registered in the Financial Inclusion for Recovery of Marawi (FIRM) Project who received their own electronic prepaid cards. Out of these, 10,000 IDPs will be chosen based on specific vulnerability criteria and will be part of the targeted cash transfer program.

The cash transfers are being distributed through the Inclusive and Affordable Financial Facilities for Resilient and Developed Filipinos (iAFFORD) Card.

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.

Since the Marawi Conflict broke out and since losing her husband to a fatal road crash, Rakima Edris from Saduc Proper, Marawi City has been selling women’s pajamas, clothes, and make-up to provide for her three children. Photo by May Anne Caduyac, IDEALS Inc.

Edris used to be a fruit and fish vendor in Banggolo, Marawi City, while her husband worked as a construction worker in the area. However, since the crisis broke out and since losing her husband to a fatal road crash, she needed to rise and stand as both a mother and father to her three children.

Changing practices

Now, Edris has started a small retail business through selling women’s clothing such as pajamas, shirts, and even make-up. She uses a portion of her profit to buy products to sell and another portion goes to her personal savings and repayment of debt.

Edris has lost all her savings in the wake crisis and when her husband was hospitalized because of the road crash, she was left with no choice but to borrow money from other people.

“I am more inspired now to save money because I know that my savings are secured. Instead of putting my money under my pillow, I can deposit it in my iAFFORD Card and I will be able to sleep more soundly,” she said.

Almost 93 per cent of cities and municipalities in the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) are unbanked, including Marawi City. They instead practice “luge” or keeping their savings near their bodies or in a hidden part of their house.

The sentiments of Candidato and Edris are just a few of the thousands of women and mothers from whose lives have been drastically changed because of the crisis, but theirs are the hands that would help in the recovery and rebuilding of a more resilient Marawi.

“What happened to us served as a difficult lesson. We lost everything there and nothing of value remained. I lost my husband too. But now, I have the means to stand up again,” Edris said.

More than rebuilding lives, the new beginnings of the people of Marawi must also be built on empowerment, inclusion, and resilience. #

ABOUT FIRM:

The Financial Inclusion for Recovery of Marawi (FIRM) Project is a targeted cash transfer project to 10,000 vulnerable internally displaced persons (IDPs) affected by the Marawi Conflict. FIRM is led by the People’s Disaster Risk Reduction Network (PDRRN), Initiatives for Dialogue and Empowerment through Alternative Legal Services (IDEALS), and Al-Majudilah Development Foundation (AMDF), PayMaya, Smart Padala, and Oxfam Philippines with the support of the United Nations Development Programme.