Task Force Bangon Marawi chairperson and Housing chief Eduardo del Rosario revealed Thursday that only P10 billion of the estimated P350 billion international pledges for Marawi rehabilitation were received by the national government.
“It’s P10.7 billion only coming from the Asian Development Bank, China, and the government of Japan,” Del Rosario answered when asked by San Juan City Representative Ronaldo Zamora asked Del Rosario on the status of US$7 billion for Marawi assistance.
“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.
He explained that other interventions were given directly through civil service organizations, and the pledges did not go through the national treasury.
“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 noted that relief goods and other soft interventions do not contribute too much to the long-term needs of the residents displaced by the siege.
“You’re not really getting anything that remains on the ground, that’s my point,” the congressman said.
Marawi rehabilitation budget
Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon pushes to increase the fund for the rehabilitation of Marawi City in Lanao Del Sur for 2021.
The 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 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.
The senator added that relying on donations and official development assistance to fund the rehabilitation is a little difficult for him to accept “because there is nothing definite about these.”