Marawi mayor: P90 billion needed to rebuild city

MANILA, Philippines — A hefty P90 billion is needed to bankroll the restoration of battled-scarred Marawi, the city’s mayor said Friday.

Marawi City Mayor Majul Usman Gandamra said the P90 billion emerged from an initial estimate indicated in a “consolidated master plan” that was submitted “several weeks ago.”

“If we will rebuild Marawi, we will not just restore the city. But of course, we will make it better than it was before,” Gandamra told a press conference in Malacañang.

“And of course, no amount of money that can compensate what happened in Marawi,” he added.

In a rousing address to troops, President Rodrigo Duterte last month declared Marawi—which was stormed by heavily-armed militants on May 23—liberated from pro-ISIS extremists after two terrorist leaders were killed in a targeted military operation.

Four days after the president’s announcement, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana declared an end to combat operations in the besieged city after five months of intense fighting that left the city in ruins.

Lorenzana earlier said the Budget Department allocated “about P5 billion” this year for Marawi’s rehabilitation. For 2018, the defense chief said the government is looking into a budget of P10 billion to restore the city.

But according to Gandamra, an initial proposal of at least P30 billion is being considered for the start of Marawi rehabilitation in the first quarter of 2018.

Meanwhile, Gandamra also said the whooping P90 billion is not just for repair of damaged infrastructures and restoration of livelihood in Marawi, but also for the revival of the city’s economic operations.

“Because as a result of this siege, almost 100 percent of our economic operation totally collapsed,” he said.

A total of 70,000 individuals have so far returned to their homes in Marawi, the government said.