PH rejection of EU aid won’t hurt Marawi rehab – OCD exec

Lawyer Kristoffer James Purisima

The government’s rejection of aid from the European Union (EU) won’t be a setback in the rehabilitation of war-torn Marawi City.

Bangon Marawi Spokesman and Office of Civil Defense Assistant Secretary Kristoffer James Purisima said the government has “other possible donors.”

“Of course, there are other donors. There are other possible donors,” Purisima said in a Palace briefing.

President Rodrigo Duterte had earlier said the Philippines would no longer accept grants from EU after it accused the economic bloc of meddling in the Philippine affairs.

“We will, of course, exhaust all other possibilities and we are being also assisted by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank regarding this,” Purisima said.

Purisima said the non-acceptance of grant from EU won’t be a setback in the government’s rebuilding of Marawi.

“I don’t think it will be a setback. We’ve been receiving pledges of support and we’ve been receiving support from many other sectors. And therefore we will be open to evaluating all their pledges and all the supports that they plan to give,” he said.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines on Monday announced the end of the siege in Marawi.

Following Marawi’s liberation, Malacañang said the “shift now focus on the enormous and challenging task of rebuilding, reconstruction, and rehabilitation of the Islamic City.”