Gov't received only P10.7B out of P350B int'l pledges for Marawi aid —TFBM chief

Only P10 billion of the estimated P350 billion international pledges for Marawi assistance was coursed through the national government, Task Force Bangon Marawi chairperson and Housing chief Eduardo del Rosario said on Thursday.

During the deliberations of the Commission on Appointments regarding his appointment as secretary of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development, San Juan City Representative Ronaldo Zamora asked Del Rosario on the status of the international donations which the former said roughly amounts to US$7 billion.

"It's P10.7 billion only coming from the Asian Development Bank, China, and the government of Japan," Del Rosario said.

“Most of the interventions are non-infra projects with the exception of the Japanese government who provided and funded 1,500 permanent shelters in Marawi City," he added.

Other development partners have undertaken their interventions directly or through civil service organizations, and the funds that were pledged did not go through the national treasury, the TFBM chief explained.

“Most countries will just announce that they are pledging or giving support in this amount but with regards to their project implementation, they go directly on the ground and mostly it’s for early intervention activities.... They follow their own protocol and they follow their own priorities which we do not like to intervene,” Del Rosario said.

Zamora pointed out that relief goods and other soft interventions do not contribute too much to the amelioration of the long-term needs of the residents displaced by the firefight between the ISIS-inspired Maute group and the state security forces.

"You're not really getting anything that remains on the ground, that's my point," the congressman said, urging Del Rosario to send letters to the country's development partners for Marawi rehabilitation to raise this concern.

Thousands of Maranao families had been displaced after a siege transpired in May 2017. To date, the rehabilitation of the Islamic city has yet to be completed. The TFBM said it will be finished by December 2021.—AOL, GMA News