Drilon: P5 billion for Marawi rehab too small

MANILA, Philippines — Only P5 billion has been allocated for the rehabilitation of Marawi City under the proposed 2021 budget, P50 billion short of what is needed for its restoration after the 2017 terrorist siege, according to Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon.

During the Senate plenary budget deliberations on Monday, Drilon said the amount earmarked for Marawi’s rehabilitation next year was too small. Officials had estimated the cost at around P60 billion.

Yet, only P11 billion has been released by the government for that purpose, he said.

“We seriously doubt the sufficiency of the funds to fund the rehabilitation of Marawi. From our own research, the damage is about P70 billion,” Drilon said.

“We have only allocated P3.5 billion this year and P5 billion next year. We have only been relying on donations and [official development assistance] to fund the rehabilitation,” he added.

But the government intends to finish the Marawi rehabilitation by December 2021, Drilon noted. INQ