SENATE CREATES BODY FOR MARAWI RECOVERY

Department of Finance considering P30-billion Marawi bond offer to finance reconstruction efforts.

A special Senate committee has been formed to assess the extent of damage in conflict-torn Marawi City as well as the estimated cost of its rehabilitation.

The Senate adopted on Wednesday Senate Resolution 457, which created a committee tasked to study, review, assess, examine, investigate, and inquire into matters related to the rebuilding of Marawi City in Lanao del Sur.

Senator Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan was assigned as chair of the committee while Senators Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, Joseph Victor Ejercito, Panfilo Lacson and Grace Poe were assigned as members.

“This is the Senate’s contribution to President Duterte’s call for full support, assistance, and cooperation for Task Force Bangon Marawi. The Senate will respond to the plea for help of our brothers and sisters from Marawi City,” Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III said in a press state- ment on Thursday.

To fund Marawi’s rehabilitation, the Department of Finance (DOF) is considering the issuance of P30 billion worth of debt securities.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, in a statement, said he has directed the Bureau of Treasury to study a possible “Marawi bond” offer to finance the reconstruction efforts in Marawi.

The Marawi bonds would appeal to the “patriotic” sense of duty of citizens, who would like to help rebuild the lives of their fellow Filipinos in Marawi.

“These are what you would call ‘patriotic’ bonds to help augment the funds that the government has set aside for Marawi’s rehabilitation,” Dominguez said at a recent DOF executive committee (Execom) meeting.

Dominguez asked National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon at the Execom meeting to study the tenor or length of maturity of the bond, which could possibly be for 20 years.

In a separate statement, Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Benjamin Diokno said the government would release at least P15 billion to rehabilitate Marawi in the next two years.

The allocations would form part of the proposed budget of the Marawi reconstruction masterplan spearheaded by the Department of Public Works and Highways.

“The initial fund of P5 billion for 2017 will be sourced from the 2016 and 2017 NDRRM (National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council) fund with a combined remaining balance of around P7.4 billion, and the 2017 contingent fund with a balance of almost P3.35 billion, both as of July 2017,” Diokno said in his statement.

For the NDRRM fund for 2018, P25.5 billion has been allocated, of which P10 billion has been allotted for the Marawi recovery and rehabilitation program, according to Diokno.