Government eyes P30B from bonds to augment Marawi rehab

The government hopes to raise P30 billion to help fund the planned massive rehabili­tation and reconstruction ef­fort for Marawi City through a bond float, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said. The Department of Fi­nance (DOF) has direct­ed the Bureau of Treasury (BTr) to study the possible issuance of debt securities.

Dominguez said the “Marawi” bonds would appeal to the “patriotic” sense of duty of citizens who would like to help rebuild the lives of their fellow Filipinos in Marawi.

“These are what you would call ‘patriotic’ bonds to help augment the funds that the government has set aside for Marawi’s rehabili­tation,” Dominguez said at a recent DOF executive com­mittee (Execom) meeting. Dominguez asked Na­tional Treasurer Rosalia de Leon at the Execom meeting to study the tenor or length of maturity of the bond, which could possibly be for 20 years.

In a separate statement, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said the government will release at least P15 bil­lion to rehabilitate Mara­wi in the next two years.

The allocations would form part of the proposed bud­get of the Marawi reconstruc­tion masterplan spearheaded by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

“The initial fund of P5 bil­lion for 2017 will be sourced from the 2016 and 2017 NDRRM (National Disaster Risk Reduction and Manage­ment Council) fund with a combined remaining balance of around P7.4 billion, and the 2017 contin­gent fund with a balance of almost P3.35 billion, both as of July 2017,” Diokno said.

For the NDRRM fund for 2018, P25.5 billion has been allocated, of which P10 billion had been allotted for the Mara­wi recovery and rehabilitation program, according to Diokno.

As fighting in Marawi City extended to over two months, Defense Secretary Delfin Lo­renzana estimates the gov­ernment has spent close to P2.5 billion in the effort to end the Marawi City siege.

Of the P2.5 billion, P1.3 billion alone was spent by the Army, he added.

Lorenzana said that he would still find out the amount spent by Air Force and the Marines units deployed there and those used for the ac­quisition of fighting equip­ment like bullet-proof vests, helmets, night-vision gog­gles and assorted munition.

Also, Lorenzana ex­pressed hopes that Congress would replenish the expen­ditures as these were pulled out from ongoing projects.

Diokno said the ongo­ing conflict in Marawi City will not significantly affect the performance of the economy, nor will it warrant the cre­ation of a supplemental bud­get to rehabilitate the area.

President Duterte has ordered the creation of Task Force BangonMarawi to im­plement rehabilitation and reconstruction of the Marawi City.

DPWH is expected to come up with a comprehen­sive “master plan” to map out these efforts.

The President previous­ly promised to give P20 bil­lion for Marawi rehabilitation. According to the DBM chief, the Marawi budget will be released following a multi-year scheme.

The DBM has allotted at least P5 billion for 2017, P10 billion for 2018, and an additional budget yet to be determined for 2019. The budgets and funding sources for 2017 and 2018 have been identified prior to the creation of the DPWH “master plan” in order to quickly respond to the needs of ongoing efforts and to ac­commodate the rehabilitation plan as soon as it is set up.

The budget alloca­tion for 2019 will be es­timated based on the re­maining needs of the plan. The initial fund of P5 bil­lion for 2017 will be sourced from the 2016 and 2017 NDRRM Fund with a com­bined remaining balance of around P7.4 billion and the 2017 Contingent Fund with a balance of almost P3.35 billion, both as of July 2017.

Funds raising starts

Funds could also be sourced from the respective budgets of different agencies such as Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), DPWH and AFP Engineering Brigade, and foreign donors.

China has already donat­ed P15 million for Marawi rehabilitation to boost the re­sources of DOH and DSWD. For the NDRRM Fund for next year, P25.5 billion has been allocated; P10 billion of that amount has been allot­ted for the Marawi Recovery and Rehabilitation program.

For 2018 budget, P310 million has also been al­located for 12 infra­structure projects under ARMM Regional DPWH.

A special Senate com­mittee was formed to as­sess the extent of damage in the conflict-torn Marawi City as well as the estimat­ed cost of the rehabilitation of the damaged properties.

The Senate adopted Sen­ate Resolution 457, which will be tasked to study, re­view, assess, examine, in­vestigate, and inquire into matters relating to the re­building of Marawi City.

Also under the resolu­tion, the committee will also study the estimated cost of construction and rehabili­tation of the damaged prop­erties, infrastructure, and facilities necessary for the re­construction and rehabilitation.

Senate President Aqui­lino Pimentel III earlier filed the resolution noting in his resolution that Maranaoans “need all the help they can receive from the govern­ment and the private sector.”

Senator Gringo Hona­san was assigned as chair of the committee while Senators Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, Joseph Victor Ejercito, Pan­filo Lacson and Grace Poe were assigned as members.

“This is the Senate’s con­tribution to President Dute­rte’s call for full support, as­sistance, and cooperation for Task Force Bangon Marawi.

The Senate will re­spond to the plea for help of our brothers and sis­ters from Marawi City,” Pimentel said in a press statement on Thursday.

Reports showed that as of July 1, a total of 389,300 individuals have been dis­placed in Marawi City. The Maute terrorist group launched a rebellion starting with an attack on Marawi on May 23, 2017.