DBM releases P2.29B for Marawi residents

To help displaced Marawi residents gain livelihood, the Department of Budget and Management has released P2.29 billion to the Department of Social Welfare and Management under funds earmarked for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the war-torn city.

In a statement, the DBM yesterday said that the latest fund release to the DSWD would cover the following: P1.43 billion for the Basic Transitory Family Support Package that will benefit 25,537 displaced families from Marawi City’s 24 barangays who are now staying in evacuation centers and home-based areas; P675.19 million for the Provision of Livelihood Settlement Grants to internally displaced persons, and the P183.02-billion Operational Support Fund covering administrative and operational expenses.

In all, the P2.29-billion release was charged against the Marawi Recovery, Rehabilitation, and Reconstruction Program (MRRRP) under the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (NDRRM) Fund for fiscal year 2018.

To date, a total of P4.59 billion has been released out of the P10-billion MRRRP under the P3.767-trillion 2018 national budget.

In his budget message for the proposed P3.757-trillion cash-based appropriations for 2019, President Duterte said he was “very pleased with the ongoing rehabilitation efforts in Marawi City.”

“The Task Force Bangon Marawi is doing a great job, as evidenced by the fact that more than 70 percent of its displaced residents have returned to the city,” the President said.

For 2019, “to reassure the residents of Marawi that the government will take care of them, we are allocating P3.5 billion under the P20-billion NDRRM Fund to augment the funds for the ongoing rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts,” Duterte said.—BEN O. DE VERA