Senate panel allots P10B for Marawi rehab in 2018

The Senate finance committee has allocated P10 billion under the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (NDRRM) Fund for 2018 to Marawi City for its recovery, reconstruction, and rehabilitation.

Senator Loren Legarda, chair of the Senate panel, said this during her sponsorship speech on the proposed P3.767-trillion 2018 budget.

The P10-billion amount, according to Legarda, is on top of the P5 billion given this year from the Contingent Fund and funds of different government agencies.

Government troops continue to gain ground in Marawi City, which was attacked by ISIS-linked Maute group last May 23. Martial law is presently declared in Marawi and other parts of Mindanao.

Legarda said that the Senate committee’s proposal also includes a P500-million subsidy for a loan facility for Marawi residents under the Land Bank of the Philippines. The subsidy, she said, will allow residents to reconstruct their damaged houses.

A P5-million allocation meanwhile will go to the Mindanao State University in Marawi “for cultural mapping of the intangible and tangible heritage—all memories and materials left by the war that engulfed Marawi.”

“These budgets go with our fervent prayer that we may immediately see hope, dignity, and peace restored in Marawi City and other affected areas,” Legarda said.

The Senate finance committee also provided an additional P100-million intelligence fund for the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) “to ensure that it is ready and equipped in preventing any more Marawi-like crises from happening.”

“The Marawi crisis brought us constructive lessons in peace-making and peace-building. It also magnified a thousand times the hard challenges we face towards socio-economic and political stability. And so, we do not desire another Marawi crisis somewhere else in our land,” Legarda said.

Last month, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said at least P50 billion is needed to fund the rehabilitation of Marawi City.

Lorenzana, who also sits as chairman of Task Force Bangon Marawi, said the rehabilitation work in Marawi City will take at least three years, depending on the availability of funds. —KG, GMA News