Growth back in Marawi as tax collection reaches P30M, says task force chief

Three years after the Islamic city’s siege, Housing Secretary and Task Force Bangon Marawi (TFBM) chairman Eduardo del Rosario claimed that “normalcy” and “economic growth” have returned in the war-torn Marawi City.

This, as the local government of Marawi City has recorded a dramatic increase in its revenue collection this year, del Rosario said.

“In terms of real estate and business taxes —from P500,000 prior to the siege to at least P30 million this year,” the Housing chief said during a virtual press briefing.

With regards to the government’s rehabilitation efforts, the Cabinet official said around P60 billion is allocated for rehabilitation initiatives, P13 billion of which will be for infrastructure while P47 billion for non-infrastructure.

“The government through the Task Force Bangon Marawi is on track. We will finish the rehabilitation by December 2021,” del Rosario said.

The Housing chief said that the local government of Marawi has so far given 800 people permits to rebuild their homes, 62 of which have already completed.

This number, however, is still a far cry from the 6,400 houses destroyed during the 2017 Marawi siege.

“I would like to stress that social interventions like financial, health, education, social healing including peace dialogue and livelihood assistance have been sustained since the liberation in October 2017 up to now,” del Rosario said.

“These were even intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic to help our Maranaw brothers and sisters cope up with the adverse effects of the health crisis,” he added.—LDF, GMA News