Department of Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman has approved the release of P44,380,800 to cover the funding requirements to develop and equip the Marawi City General Hospital.

The DBM said the Budget chief greenlighted the release of the Special Allotment Release Order to the Department of Health-Northern Mindanao Center for Health Development in Region 10 on 6 December.

"We will not abandon Marawi. As a fellow Maranaoan, the rehabilitation and recovery of Marawi City is a project that is close to my heart," Pangandaman said.

"President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. directed us to put the welfare and health of the Filipino people first. And so we, at the DBM, commit to fully support projects and programs that will help in rebuilding Marawi, and in doing so, we shall ensure that there is enough funding to support the people's health care," she added.

The implementation of the projects is seen to support the operations of the hospital and improve the quality of the health care system in Marawi.

The DBM stressed that the release of funds for the MCGH is chargeable against the Fiscal Year 2022 National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund — Marawi Recovery, Rehabilitation, and Reconstruction Program under the 2022 General Appropriations Act.

"The fund will cover the equipage and the provision of the ambulance for the MCGH. These projects are included in the priority projects of the Task Force Bangon Marawi for FY 2022," said the DBM.