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BY PRINCE GOLEZ
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Tuesday, October 24, 2017
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MANILA – An additional P5 billion should be added to the funds for the rehabilitation of the war-torn Marawi City, Sen. Grace Poe said.
The amount is on top of the government’s P20-billion Marawi rehabilitation budget to be released in three tranches and the P15-billion additional funding that Sen. Ralph Recto was pushing as well.
“After the conflict, we want to see rising a stronger, better Marawi,” Poe said.
Poe said the additional funding may be taken from the 2018 budget currently under deliberation in Congress.
“Maraming buhay ang nalagas, nasira ang komunidad at nawalan ng tirahan ang mga residente doon,” she said. “Hindi matatawaran ang sakripisyo at mahabang panahong ginugol ng militar sa pagtugis sa mga terorista.”
“Tiyak na makatutulong ang dagdag na pondong ito upang maisakatuparan ang programa ng pamahalaan para sa pagbangon ng Marawi at para na rin sa mas mahigpit na seguridad sa lugar,” she added.
Earlier Recto said his proposed P15 billion “can be included in the Unprogrammed Appropriations portion of the P3.76-trillion spending measure.”
Placing the additional amount under the Unprogrammed Appropriations would eliminate the need for a supplemental appropriation bill if the current budget is not enough or has been fully spent before the end of next year, he had said.
The government allocated P5 billion, to be taken from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund, for the post-conflict plan this year. Another P10 billion will be released next year.
For 2019, the budget allocation would be estimated based on the remaining needs of the plan, according to Budget secretary Benjamin Diokno.
Diokno said they are studying the possibility of a P30-billion bond float starting next year to help augment the funding.
“The Marawi rehabilitation plan should be future-proof and include infrastructure for security against elements who would attempt to besiege the city anew,” Poe said.
Department of Defense secretary Delfin Lorenzana had said “at least P50 billion” is needed for the rehabilitation of Marawi./PN
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