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DAVAO CITY – The international community's pledges to help the city of Marawi recover from the ashes of war last year reached 35.1 billion pesos ($ 670 million) over the past year. 39, a pledge session held here Wednesday.
The amount of promised pledges, as well as the proceeds of Marawi's bond loan, will be sufficient to cover the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the besieged city for a period of five years, said Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III.
The Ministry of Finance reported that pledges to the Bangon Marawi Comprehensive Recovery and Recovery Program (BMCRRP) were initiated by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the World Bank and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.
Dominguez also thanked China, which, according to the DOF, was the first country to offer assistance to the city of Marawi. Japan, for its firm commitments to help the city come out of the devastation; and Spain, which offered additional funds during the pledging session.
The DOF said that pledges amounting to 35.1 billion pesos were made up of 32.7 billion soft loans with lower interest rates and P2.4 billions of donations.
Mr Dominguez also announced that the government will go ahead with its planned issuance of Marawi bonds in the amount of 13.5 billion Pakistani pesos in order to raise additional funds for the BMCRRP.
In his opening address at the beginning of the pledging session on Wednesday, Dominguez said the DOF was the lead agency in the fundraising and mobilization support group. resources of the Bangon Marawi Task Force. He added that the DOF had held several consultations with the implementing agencies to verify the progress of the BMCRRP and to determine the sources of funding available to carry out the rehabilitation of the city.
A technical meeting held on 6 November updated the financial requirements of the reconstruction program to Pta 72.58 billion (US $ 1.39 billion), an increase of P10 billion over the previous year. billion estimated from July. Dominguez said the detailed list of reconstruction and rehabilitation projects had been approved by the Investment Coordinating Committee on 25 October.
Of the estimated amount needed for reconstruction, the BMCRRP needs 47.20 billion pesos ($ 901 million). An additional $ 17.20 billion ($ 328.3 million) will be spent on rehabilitation of the most affected areas.
An amount of 1.25 billion pesos ($ 23.9 million) will be used for livelihood assistance, which will come from the government. In addition, 6.9 billion pesos will be allocated to humanitarian assistance that will be expanded in the early stages of the Marawi recovery program, said the DOF.
At least 58 percent of the reconstruction will come from foreign sources and the remaining 42 percent from the government.
"The city of Marawi will be ready in time to continue playing its historic role as a cultural and commercial center in this part of Mindanao," Dominguez said.
The city of Marawi is the capital of Lanao del Sur in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). Last year, a five-month battle to retake it destroyed much of the city, the government having used air strikes to chase fighters of the Maute group and Abu Sayyaf who dug holes and tunnels in the houses and laid mines in narrow lanes.
The battle claimed the lives of several hundred people and forced 77,170 displaced families, Dominguez said, citing government statistics.
President Duterte then issued Administrative Order No. 3 creating the Bangon Marawi Task Force to oversee the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the city.
Dominguez also thanked the United Nations and the governments of the United States, Australia, China, Japan, Germany, Korea and Spain for their technical assistance in implementing the Bangon Marawi program and the realization of community initiatives.
He added that the AfDB and the World Bank had also provided technical assistance and support to community initiatives. The United Nations and its specialized agencies, as well as the governments of Australia, Italy, Japan, Korea and the United States, as well as private groups, have allocated £ 6.9 billion for relief operations and humanitarian assistance.
Watch dog
The Philippine Office of International Alert, headquartered in London, has helped to create a new monitoring organization, Monitoring Reconstruction Conflict in Marawi (MRCW), in order to "channel the attention and the public participation in the Marawi reconstruction process ".
International Alert said the MRCW would work with the government to help mitigate the violence induced by the transition and that it would be on the lookout for any economic, social and environmental effects of the rehabilitation process, and if this process would lead to more violent conflict. "
He said the MRCW was the response to inquiries about "who will monitor, evaluate and mitigate the impact of Marawi's reconstruction on people's lives?"
The International Alert said the MRCW would be composed of "local people from different sectors who fully understand the conflictual landscape of Marawi and its surroundings".
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