P67.9-B Marawi rehab pushed

Manila -- Funding from both local and foreign sources have enabled the Duterte administration to fast track the extensive planning and preparations required for the P67.99-billion reconstruction and rehabilitation program for Marawi, a year after government troops liberated this Southern Philippine city from Islamic State (IS)-inspired militants.

Of the amount needed for Marawi’s rehabilitation, about P41.81 billion has already been raised by the government. Of this, P6.64 billion came from various forms of humanitarian assistance from multilateral and bilateral partners during the early stages of the recovery program for Marawi, while P35.17 billion will be sourced from the Philippines’ development partners, which have offered concessional loans and grants during the pledging session for the Bangon Marawi Comprehensive Recovery and Rehabilitation Program (BMCRRP) held last Nov. 28 in Davao City, Department of Finance (DOF) Assistant Secretary Antonio Joselito Lambino II said in a statement on Thursday.

The Philippine government has already released a total of P12.4 billion to aid the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the damaged city of Marawi. Of this amount, P10.9 billion was provided to fund relief and livelihood assistance, as well as construction of transitional shelters and evacuation centers for displaced families, among others. The remaining PHP1.5 billion, which came from the President’s Social Fund, was also released to the National Housing Authority (NHA) to help fund these rehabilitation efforts.

Lambino said that while the government is now accelerating the planning and preparatory stages to rehabilitate Marawi, which would take two to three years to complete, displaced families have started to benefit from the slew of immediate and short-term projects that both the government and foreign institutions have put in place as soon as residents return to their devastated city.

Lambino said the government is continuously working with the country’s development partners to accelerate the implementation of medium- to long-term rehabilitation efforts for Marawi.

He noted that just this month, Philippine government officials and Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Koji Haneda led the groundbreaking ceremony for the Marawi Transcentral Road that will be rebuilt with funding support from Japan.

Foreign institutions have also carried out programs, such as cash transfers for the displaced city folk, gave grants and donated equipment for the reconstruction effort, Lambino said.

China, Japan, the United States, Australia, Germany, Korea, Spain and Italy, along with multilateral institutions such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Bank (WB), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the United Nations (UN) offered their support during last year’s pledging session in Davao.

“A city as damaged as Marawi requires a long-term rehabilitation program. With some development partners, the project preparation alone may last up to three years from the project conception to the start of the construction or implementation. We are moving faster than business-as-usual,” Lambino said.