CITY IN RUINS In this file photo taken on October 8, 2017, soldiers patrol a section of the city center of Marawi as government forces battle with members of the Islamic State-linked group Maute that laid siege to the provincial capital of Lanao del Sur. (Photo from JEOFFREY MAITEM)
MANILA, Philippines — Victims of the Marawi siege have filed over ₱17 billion in claims, the chairperson of the Marawi Compensation Board (MCB) reported on Monday.
During the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee, MCB chairperson Maisara Dandamun Latiph said 4,762 claimants submitted applications for compensation from July 4 to August 31.
“These are people or individuals who claimed that they have a structure destroyed or a death claim,” Latiph said.
Of the more than four thousand claims, only 220 have been assessed.
Victims whose claims have been assessed are entitled to compensation worth a total of ₱395 million.
Meanwhile, Latiph said the over four thousand claims filed represent just 19 percent of the estimated 23,489 claimants.
Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa computed the cost of paying all the victims.
“In order to totally compensate all Marawi Siege victims, we need at least ₱89 billion,” Bato said, citing the data from his office.
The government had initially earmarked only ₱1 billion for this expense.
MCB was created under Republic Act No. 11696, or the Marawi Siege Victims Compensation Law.
It was tasked to oversee the process of application and payment of compensation to qualified claimants.
A damaged structure will be compensated ₱12,000 per square meter (sqm) if concrete, ₱9,000 if mixed concrete and wood, and ₱6,000 if made of light materials.
Destroyed properties are to be paid ₱18,000 per square meter if structures were concrete, ₱13,500 per sqm if mixed concrete and wood, and ₱9,000 if made of light materials or mainly wood.
These rates are based on the implementing rules and regulations of MCB.
Heirs of victims who died from the siege will be compensated ₱350,000.
The Board is expected to finish the process within five years.
On May 23, 2017, the Maute group raided Marawi’s town center and occupied the city.
Its members expressed alliance with the terrorist organization Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
Government troops liberated Marawi in October of the same year.
The battle came with a huge loss of lives and massive destruction of infrastructure.
The five-month siege led to the death of 168 soldiers and police officers, along with 900 Maute militants and scores of civilians.
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