DBM pledges more Marawi Siege victims’ compensation

The Department of Budget and Management has vowed to increase from the initial P1 billion to P5 billion to compensate the displaced victims of the five-month siege that ravaged Marawi City in 2017.

Basilan Representative Mujiv Hataman — then-governor of the now-defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao during the siege — announced on Sunday that the DBM had already committed to earmark an additional P4 billion for the Marawi Siege Victims Compensation Fund under the 2024 proposed budget.

"We got another commitment from the DBM that they will make P5 billion in funds for the victims of the Marawi Siege to rebuild their homes. I hope they fulfill this to relieve many of our citizens from Marawi," Hataman said.

The augmentation was made in response to a series of appeals to the DBM to raise the current P1 billion set aside for Marawi, which Hataman claimed deemed "grossly insufficient."

The P1 billion lodged under this year's budget will be released by the DBM next week to compensate around 362 claimants, according to budget sponsor Representative Francisco Jose Matugas.

"If the government fulfills its promise to increase the Marawi Compensation Fund to P5 billion next year, it will be a big victory for the victims of the Marawi Siege who waited more than six years to rebuild their damaged homes," Hataman said.

To recall, Republic Act 11696, or the Marawi Siege Victims Compensation Act of 2022, signed into law by then-President Rodrigo Duterte, intends to provide reparation and compensation to Marawi residents whose properties were defaced or wrecked during the five-month clash of Maute terror group on the Islamic City of Marawi in 2017.

In July, the House Ad Hoc Committee on Marawi Rehabilitation reported that Marawi City, which was once a battlefield between government troops and Islamic militants, is currently on its upturn, with several projects that aim to raise the city from ashes nearing completion.

This includes the Marawi Public Market, Marawi Convention Center, the Sarimanok Stadium and Children's Park, and the Marawi Mosque and the heavily damaged Bato Mosque, which were reportedly at the same level of completion.

Hataman insisted during the budget deliberations that the annual P1 billion allotted by the DBM for the Marawi victims is "immensely insufficient," especially since the Marawi Compensation Board was only given five years to finish paying the victims.

The MCB reported that from 4 July to 31 August, it received 4,762 filed claims amounting to roughly P17.46 billion in just two months.

Marawi City was stormed by Islamic State-inspired homegrown terrorists and left homes, properties, and businesses destroyed after the five-month siege.

Duterte declared martial law in Mindanao in 2017 amid the clashes. It ended after two years in 2019.