MARAWI COMPENSATION BOARD HAS NEW HEAD

PRESIDENT Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has appointed Maisara Dandamun-Latiph as chairman of a compensation board that will process the claims of 2017 Marawi siege victims, Malacañang said Tuesday.

Presidential Communications Secretary Cheloy Garafil said Dandamun-Latiph took her oath of office before Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin on Monday, January 30.

Dandamun-Latiph, a lawyer, will lead the nine-member Marawi Compensation Board (MCB) that will promulgate the Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act 11696 or the “Marawi Siege Victims Compensation Act of 2022.”

The MCB is tasked with facilitating the tax-free payment of reparations to “qualified claimants” who lost residential and commercial properties in the Marawi siege.

The law also grants private property owners compensation based on the sum of the current market value of the land and the replacement cost of structures and improvements.

The Budget department earlier said P1 billion was allocated to compensate victims of the Marawi siege.

Dandamun-Latiph served as a member of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), the interim government in the Bangsaromo Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, under the Duterte administration.

She worked as BTA legislator, advocating for the vulnerable sectors, women, children, youth, environment, social enterprise and education, among others.

She was also a former senior state solicitor at the Office of the Solicitor General.

Meanwhile, the President also named the members of the MCB. They are Dalomabi Lao Bula, Mustapha Dimaampao, Moslemen Macarambon Sr., Nasser Macapado Tabao, Mabandes Sumndad Diron Jr., Jamaica Lamping Dimaporo, Sittie Aliyyah Lomondot Adiong, and Romaisa Lomantong Mamutuk.