Senate panel allocates P10B for Marawi rehab in 2018

This was announced by Senator Loren Legarda, committee chair, during her sponsorship speech on the proposed 2018 budget. (Photo: Senate of the Philippines/Facebook)

Under the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (NDRRM) Fund, the Senate finance committee has allotted P10-billion for the rehabilitation of Marawi City in 2018.

This was announced by Senator Loren Legarda, committee chair, during her sponsorship speech on the proposed 2018 budget.

Legarda said on Thursday that the Senate supports the move of the House to provide for the rehabilitation of the war-torn city, however the committee stood firm that the budget for the quick recovery, reconstruction, and rehabilitation of Marawi should be increased.

According to the panel chair, the P10-billion amount is on the top of the P5-billion given for 2017 from the Contingent Fund and funds of various government agencies.

Through the Land Bank of the Philippines, Legarda said that the Senate panel’s proposal also includes a P500-million subsidy for a loan facility for Marawi residents which will enable them to rebuild their ruined houses.

“In a new special provision, we specify that such loans will be free of interest, but the loanable amount is limited to P2 million per household and the Land Bank may charge the borrower an administrative cost for processing the loan,” the senator said.

Aside from this, P5-million was also allocated to the Mindanao State University in Marawi for “cultural mapping of the intangible and tangible heritage” left from the war.

“We hope that this process of heritage mapping and its intended outputs can hasten the psychological healing of the affected populace and strengthen our cultural bonds with our fellow Muslim Filipinos. 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.

Furthermore, the committee also allotted an additional P100-million intelligence fund for the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) to guarantee that it is prepared and equipped in preventing more Marawi-like crises from occurring.

According to the Senator, the crisis that Marawi is facing brought constructive lessons in peace-making and peace-building. It also magnified a thousand times the difficult challenges the country face towards socio-economic and political stability.

Legarda added that the Filipinos would not want another Marawi crisis to occur in the country.

Meanwhile, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is set to form a master plan for the rehabilitation of the city.

Chairman of Task Force Bangon Marawi and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said that it will take at least three years to rehabilitate Marawi City, depending on the funds’ availability.

The Armed Forces continue to advance in Marawi City that was attacked by the Maute Group terrorists last May 23.