Gov’t assures swift, corruption-free Marawi rehab

Task Force Bangon Marawi said Friday the government is doing its best to hasten the rebuilding of war-torn Marawi City, assuring the public that it will be done “without irregularities”. (Photo: Task Force Bangon Marawi/Facebook)

MANILA – Task Force Bangon Marawi said Friday the government is doing its best to hasten the rebuilding of war-torn Marawi City, assuring the public that it will be done “without irregularities”.

“We want to assure everyone that we will do this as fast as we can but we will do it in the right manner and following the right procedures,” task force spokesperson Toby Purisima said during a Palace press briefing.

Purisima said six bidders have submitted unsolicited proposals on how to rebuild the most-affected areas composed of 24 barangays.

“We are currently at the preliminary evaluation stage, negotiations would commence next week. After negotiations, the chosen developer will be given the original proponents status,” he said.

Purisima, however, said the chosen developer still has to undergo a Swiss challenge wherein it will be challenged by anybody, including the developers who have submitted proposals.

“That is the beauty of the Swiss challenge because we will really know what are the optimal bid and specs that these developers can give. We will be able to get the best project proposal,” he said.

He said the task force remains on target for the ground breaking of the reconstruction of most affected areas in the first of week of May.

“There is no significant delay but we have set a lot of requirements for the developer. There are 15 minimum requirements. Every day, we do the evaluations. So we are ensuring that we review all the documents properly,” Purisima said.

Purisima assured that the locations of planned infrastructure and the sites covered by the proposed rebuilding will consider special concerns and will be sensitive to the Maranao culture.

The target date for the completion of Marawi’s reconstruction is December 2021.