Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon pushes to increase the fund for the rehabilitation of Marawi City in Lanao Del Sur for 2021.
Marawi rehabilitation remains unfinished three years after the ISIS-inspire Maute group tried to overtake the city.
Senate Finance committee chairperson Sonny Angara said the total funds allocated for the Marawi rehabilitation is at least P60 billion. However, the government has released only over P11 billion so far.
For 2020, the Marawi rehabilitation has been provided a P3.5 billion allocation, while P5 billion was allotted for it in the proposed P4.5 trillion 2021 national budget.
Drilon said he “seriously doubts” that the proposed funds would be sufficient to rehabilitate Marawi.
“We are still talking about a P48 billion balance out of a budget of P60 billion to rehabilitate Marawi. Would the current and the budget next year be enough to complete the rehabilitation by December 2021 as publicly committed by officials in charge of Marawi?” he asked.
The senator added that relying on donation and official development assistance to fund Marawi rehabilitation is a little difficult for him to accept “because there is nothing definite about these.”
Angara agreed with Drilon that government funds release for Marawi rehabilitation should be fast-tracked.
“Of course, the sourcing of funds would be a challenge as it always is, but, in matters of priority, that should be high up in our list of priorities,” he said.
Task Force Bangon Marawi chairperson Secretary Eduardo del Rosario previously vowed to complete at least 90% of the Marawi rehabilitation projects by December 2021.
In January, it was reported that at least P406.5 million of the 2018 fund for rehabilitation of Marawi City expired due to national disaster and Office of the President’s slow approval.
Acting Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado said the Marawi funds were included in the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund (NDRRMF) of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).