Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was hardly in a celebratory mood when he declared the liberation of Marawi, the southern Islamic city destroyed by one of the longest battles between government troops and terrorists. Although peace has been restored, that could not be a cause for celebration because the city has been destroyed in the process, said Duturte.

In the Philippines, the reconstruction of Marawi, once a vibrant city and center of Islamic education, will be critical to efforts to contain the spread of radical ideologies, said Melly Caballero-Anthony, head of the Center for Non-Traditional Security Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

“Families have been displaced, relations have been disrupted and you want to build as fast as possible because the longer you wait, you don’t know if it will again perhaps escalate or come out in a different shape or form,” Caballero-Anthony said.