P10 B more for Marawi rehabilitation sought

MANILA, Philippines - Kabayan party-list Rep. Harry Roque is seeking an additional P10 billion for the rehabilitation of Marawi City.

Roque yesterday filed House Bill 5874 or the proposed Tindeg Marawi Act, which seeks to appropriate P10 billion as supplemental budget for the Department of National Defense (DND), Department of Education (DepEd), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and National Housing Authority (NHA).

“This bill supplements the declared intention of Malacañang to allot 10 billion for the rehabilitation of Marawi,” he said, adding the money would be used to provide humanitarian assistance to victims of the Marawi siege and for the rehabilitation of destroyed infrastructure, properties and businesses. 

Roque said the bigger allocation would expedite the city’s recovery from the ruins of war and return to ordinary civilian life.

“While many efforts have been successful in properly evacuating innocent civilians from the zone of conflict, the government must plan and appropriate funds towards the rehabilitation of Marawi City and the restoration of peace and order within the area,” he said.

Roque explained that he titled the bill Tindeg Marawi “to embody the fighting spirit of the people of Marawi in overcoming this vicious attack.”

“Tindeg – as a cultural concept deeply embedded in the Maranao psyche – expresses the Maranao people’s resilience and fortitude to stand up for what is right and what is just,” he said.

Earlier, Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo proposed the creation of a rehabilitation fund and program for the immediate and long-term reconstruction of Marawi.

“Even as fighting between government forces and rebel-terrorist groups continues to rage in Marawi City, government should already consider drawing up a rehabilitation program and seeking congressional approval for a special rehabilitation fund,” Castelo said. 

“We have to act fast so that we can rebuild at once the homes of Marawi residents, provide employment and livelihood and bring their life back to normal as soon as the fighting is over,” he said. 

He added that the proposed Marawi reconstruction fund is similar to the rehabilitation budget Congress put together for areas devastated by Super Typhoon Yolanda in 2013. – With Delon Porcalla