Mindanao investments...

dence level in areas outside of Marawi but Marawi will have the most dramatic economic improvement. There will be lots of opportunities and a spillover in the nearby areas but the impact in Marawi is immediate because the govWASHINGTON ernment will pour everything in there,” said Lopez.

"The government is master planning of a new Marawi City," Lopez said.

President Duterte has committed a R10-billion budget for the rehabilitation of infrastructure destroyed during months of bombing that pounded the city to route the terrorist Maute Group. He was also seeking for a five month extension of Martial Law in Mindanao.

On the part of the DTI, Lopez said the agency will implement a R10-million livelihood assistance to the micro enterprises in Marawi.

On top of this, the agency will boost its micro financing for Marawi businesses under the government’s R3 or the Pondo sa Pagbabago at Pag-asenso, a micro-financing program at minimal interest rate with no collaterals.

So far, the government has allocated R1.5 billion for R3 but the Senate may further increase the fund for another R2 billion. The P3 has already covered 67 provinces in the country through its micro financing conduits and local cooperatives and non-governmental organizations.

The government is also extending R500,000 to families of those killed in action. There are now over 100 civilian casualties in Marawi.

“Once the war is over, rehabilitation will start with or without the extension of Martial Law. So, we have to allocate micro financing because most of the residents in Marawi are entrepreneurs,” Lopez said.

The massive rebuilding of Marawi, he said, will eventually benefit the entire Mindanao, which has not really been affected by the Marawi crisis.

“The promise of Mindanao is still there, the impact of Marawi does not mean it lost its potential because definitely it is still there,” he reiterated.