Over P4 billion unused 2018 Marawi fund nears expiration

MANILA, Philippines — Over P4 billion of 2018 fund for the Marawi rehabilitation remains unreleased by the Department and Budget and Management (DBM) and will expire by yearend, further delaying the recovery of the Islamic city more than two years after it was put under siege by extremists aligned with the Islamic State.

At a meeting of the House subcommittee on Marawi rehabilitation on Tuesday, Anak Mindanao Rep. Amihilda Sangcopan warned that the P4.4 billion fund of the P10 billion total budget for the city under the 2018 national budget would be useless if the government should fail to release it.

“We’re talking of P4.4 more billion of the P10 billion [2018 fund], we’re not even talking about [the fund in] the 2019 budget, which is P3.5 billion.  It’s a good thing that Congress extended the validity of the 2019 budget,” Sangcopan said, speaking partly in Filipino.

“So we have how many more days to go? That means the P4.4 billion fund that should be for residents of Marawi will be useless,” she said.

As of Oct. 31, 2019, the DBM released a total of P5.522 billion through SAROs. But various agencies present at the hearing failed to provide accurate updates on the implementation of their programs, which lawmakers hit as irresponsible.

“We face our constituents as representatives and we want to inform them accurately but we can only do this if you inform us correctly,” Basilan Rep. Mujiv Hataman said.

“If agencies like you that implement the programs are not aware of it, what can you expect from us lawmakers?” he added.

In the 2019 national budget, the government allotted another P3.5 billion for Marawi. Out of this budget, P62.97 million still needs the approval of the Office of the President, Office of the Civil Defense spokesman Director Edgar Posadas said.

READ: Marawi still a ghost town 2 years after siege ended

/atm