The government is allotting P13.5 billion in 2019 for the rehabilitation of Marawi City, Department of Budget and Management (DBP) Secretary Benjamin Diokno said at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay Forum Wednesday.

The funding was set despite the absence of a master plan to be prepared by other government agencies, Diokno said.

The agencies tasked to craft the plan are the National Economic Development Authority, Department of National Defense, Office of the President and DBM, according to Neil Arnido, a DBM official.

Meanwhile, residents of Marawi are still waiting for the start of the rehabilitation work though they consider the delay as a “blessing in disguise.”

“The Duterte administration and Marawi residents still have the time and opportunity to sit down and discuss once again the many issues surrounding the city’s recovery plan,” said Drieza Lininding, head of the Moro Consensus Group.

The groundbreaking of the rehabilitation was postponed twice and residents are wondering when will it start.

The government had chosen a Chinese-led consortium as developer but it failed to begin the rebuilding process because of its failure to meet one important requirement.

Tirmizy Abdullah, an associate professor at Mindanao State University in Marawi, voiced out his concern over the Chinese companies that will do the rehabilitation.

“The people don’t want that the government use Chinese money in the rehabilitation since they know that it is not for free,” said Abdullah. “Maranao people have a strong spirit of resiliency and we believe that we don’t need to borrow from China just to recover.”

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