DHSUD chief says Marawi may emerge as one most prosperous cities in 10 years

THE reconstruction and rehabilitation of Marawi City could turn it into one of the most prosperous cities in the Philippines in the next 10 years, according to the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development ( DHSUD).

In a news statement, DHSUD Secretary Eduardo del Rosario said the completion of the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the city will pave the way for greater economic opportunities.

Based on the Small Area Estimates (SAE) released by the Philippine Statistics Authority ( PSA), poverty level in Marawi City worsened to 60 percent in 2012 and 54.6 percent in 2015 from 34.5 percent in 2009.

“I won’t be surprised that after the rehabilitation, after 10 years maybe, Marawi City will bloom economically and be very competitive,” del Rosario said.

Based on the 2017 Cities and

Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI) developed by the National Competitiveness Council ( NCC), he said Marawi City was the least competitive city in the Philippines with an overall score of 7.0489, five times lower than the average.

The annual index measures four areas to gauge a city’s competitiveness: economic dynamism, government efficiency, infrastructure and resiliency. Prior to the siege, Marawi ranked the lowest in terms of resiliency and government efficiency. It also ranked low on economic dynamism (95th) and infrastructure (143rd).

“Before the siege, out of 145 cities in the whole country, in terms of competitiveness, Marawi City was 145th. It’s the last city because there is no sound business environment to speak of, and because of that we would like this rehabilitation to trigger economic development and sustainability,” del Rosario said.

As the Task Force Bangon Marawi ( TFBM) chairman, del Rosario said he sees the rehabilitation as a clean slate and opportunity for the Islamic city to become a prosperous city and promised to complete all infrastructure projects within the current term.

Earlier, del Rosario said the restoration of utilities in Marawi was part of the projects needed to rehabilitate the city.

With this, around 20 projects would be completed by the end of December 2021, while two other projects would be fully completed by March 2022.

Del Rosario said the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) already received funding for the construction of a pumping station for the water connection project in the Most Affected Area (MAA).

He added that funding has also been secured for the Lanao del Sur Electric Cooperative for the construction of a power substation.

Del Rosario added the government has already provided power to “Sector 1, 2, and 3” in the MAA even before the construction of the power substation.