NDRRMC executive director Ricardo Jalad attends the press briefing in Malacañang. NESTOR CORRALES / INQUIRER.net PHOTO
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) on Thursday promised a faster rehabilitation of war-torn Marawi City compared to the recovery efforts after Supertyphoon “Yolanda” devastated Visayas.
“Hindi ko masasabi yung exact time frame nito (I cannot say the exact time frame for this) but we’ll do it as fast as we can,” NDRRMC executive director Ricardo Jalad said in an ambush interview in Malacañang.
Jalad said he could not say when the rehabilitation efforts in Marawi City would start as government troops are still trying to flush and wipe out terrorists in the city.
“Right now, we are still focusing on the response. We will do that as soon as Marawi is cleared. We will deploy rapid damage and needs assessment teams,” he said.
He said the government has learned its lesson during the rehabilitation of areas devastated by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” and believed the rehabilitation of Marawi would be faster.
“Anyway, Marawi lang to palagay ko mas ano ‘to madali lang ito. It’s not like the effects of Yolanda. In that case kasi doon sa Yolanda wala pa tayo masyadong maayos na template or protocol. But with this, natuto na tayo sa experience natin in the past calamities, mapabilis natin yung process natin,” he said.
Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella on Sunday said the government would allocate P10 billion for the rehabilitation of Marawi under the “Bangon Marawi” program.
Abella said the Department of National Defense (DND) would lead the recovery efforts. The P10-billion fund for Marawi rehabilitation “was an approximation given by the President.”
As of June 14, Jalad said 66,738 families composed of 324,406 individuals were displaced from Marawi City and Marantao, municipality of Marantao in Lanao del Sur.
“Of this number of displaced people, only about five percent are checked in or living, staying inside evacuation centers, numbering about 79 evacuation centers, spread out in Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur–we also have one in Cagayan de Oro City,” he said.
Jalad said the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) would have emergency shelter assistance for the repair of the homes ravaged by the conflict. He added the affected persons could also avail of the government’s cash-for-work and livelihood assistance. JPV/rga