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By APD writer Melo M. Acuna
MANILA, Nov.28 (APD) – After over a year since President Rodrigo Duterte announced the liberation of war-torn Marawi City from ISIS-inspired terrorists, the country has received a total of P 35.1 billion or US$670 million in pledges from the international community to fund the ongoing rehabilitation and reconstruction.
This was the disclosure made by Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez in a pledging session held in Davao City earlier today.
In a statement released by the Department of Finance, Secretary Dominguez thanked the international development partners and governments for and on behalf of the Philippine government and the Filipino people for the pledges received to fund the Bangon Marawi Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Recovery Program (BMCRRP).
Secretary Dominguez thanked the Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Bank (WB), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the governments of China, the first country to offer its assistance to Marawi, Japan, for the firm commitments to help the city rise from its sordid condition, and Spain, which offered additional funding support during the session.
Of the P35.1 billion in pledges, P 32.7 billion will be in the form of concessional financing while P2.4 billion will be in the form of grants.
Finance Secretary Dominguez also thanked the United Nations (UN) and the governments of the United States, Australia, China, Germany, Japan, Korea and Spain for their support for Marawi’s reconstruction efforts in the form of technical assistance and preparatory support needed to ensure the program implementation and carry out humanitarian grant assistance amounting to P6.9 billion or US$ 132.4 million.
He added the government’s planned issuance of Marawi bonds amounting to P13.5 billion or US$ 258 million, budgetary support and the P 35.1 billion (US$670 million) in pledges from the international community will be more than sufficient to cover the P47.2 billion financing requirement of the Bangon Marawi Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Recovery Program.
Secretary Dominguez said the government is determined that the overall financing requirement for Marawi could amount to P 72.58 billion or US$ 1.39 million over a five-year period up to 2022.
It will be recalled Marawi City, the capital of Lanao del Sur in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) was attacked some 18 months ago by terrorists from the Maute Group. It took the national government over five months of intense urban warfare complemented by air strikes by the Philippine Air Force to repel the armed group.
About 1,000 people were reported to have died while some 77,170 families were displaced.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
