Marawi rebuilding to cost about P90B

The reconstruction and rehabilitation of war-torn Marawi City is expected to cost around P90 billion, according to its Mayor Majul Gandamra.

Gandamra said the amount was the initial estimate based on the consolidated master plan submitted several weeks ago.

“If we’re going to rebuild Marawi, we would not just return it to what it was before, but of course, we will make it better than it was before,” Gandamra told a press briefing in Malacañang to explain the P90-billion tag.

The amount would also be used to resuscitate economic operations in the city and pursue peace building.  The efforts would not just be focused on reconstructing the physical structures, he added.

As for proposals to reconstruct the city in another location and turn the devastated area into a memorial, the mayor said his personal view and those of the constituents he consulted was that it would be better to rebuild the war-torn area.

They could also expand these areas, especially the government centers, he added.

Five months of fighting between state forces and Islamic State-allied extremists had reduced most of the city to rubble and displaced some 200,000 residents.

After the President declared the liberation of the city, residents had been allowed to return to some of the cleared areas.

Some 13,000 families consisting of 70,000 individuals have returned to 19 barangays, Gandamra said on Friday.

The clearing of other areas, as well as the postconflict needs assessment are continuing.

Meanwhile, Gandamra also said many of his constituents were worried about being displaced given that most of Marawi was a military reservation and there were claims that it would be taken over by the government.

He underscored the importance of addressing these concerns so that the issue would not be used to turn the people against the government.

“We do not want to create any problem out of these issues, so that our government should properly address these in such a manner that it will not be taken advantage of by some who will, of course, ride on the issue and make it their battle cry to rise against the government,” he said.

He noted that a grievance machinery was put in place to address land disputes and there was also an ongoing dialogue with the stakeholders.