LANAO DEL SUR — Nearly nine years after the 2017 Marawi siege, the Provincial Government of Lanao del Sur is intensifying efforts to identify hundreds of still-unaccounted-for victims through a comprehensive program that combines forensic science, religious and cultural sensitivity, and enhanced support services for affected families.

Police Major Von Carlos Ates, officer-in-charge of the Lanao del Sur Provincial Forensic Unit, outlined the initiative during the second-quarter meeting of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council on 17 June at the Provincial Capitol Social Hall.

Established under Executive Order 007, Series of 2025, the Technical Working Group for Marawi Siege Victim Identification is tasked with three key functions: DNA and kinship matching, family engagement, and the Maqbara exhumation project.

More than 328 sets of unidentified skeletal remains recovered from Marawi’s ground zero are currently interred at the Maqbara cemetery. Ates said exhumation is necessary to conduct anthropological examinations and obtain viable DNA samples, a crucial step toward formal identification.

The DNA samples will be analyzed by the Philippine National Police Forensic Group laboratory in Camp Crame. Positive matches will allow authorities to issue official death certificates to the victims’ families.

Ates said the program follows international human rights and forensic standards and is guided by the 2025 Fatwa issued by the Bangsamoro Darul-Ifta. The initiative was developed in consultation with the Provincial Ulama Council and local leaders, including Governor Mamintal “Bombit” Adiong Jr. and Marawi City Vice Mayor Majul Gandamra.

To date, only seven victims have been positively identified through DNA kinship matching, while six additional cases remain pending due to incomplete reference samples from relatives.

To streamline communication with affected families, the TWG will establish a centralized help desk that will serve as a one-stop center for inquiries regarding DNA results, identification processes, compensation claims, and other government assistance.

“Many families do not know which office to approach, so concerns get scattered,” Ates said. “This desk will gather them together and walk them through exactly what is being done.”