AS much P6 billion could be tapped under this year’s P5.768-trillion national budget to support the Marawi Siege Victims Compensation Fund, according to Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel.
Pimentel, a member of the House Committee on Public Accounts, said the P6 billion is on top of the initial P1 billion in programmed appropriations for the compensation fund in 2023, and another P1 billion in programmed appropriations for the fund in 2024.
Unlike regular items in the national budget, unprogrammed appropriations are not automatically allocated and only becomes available if funding conditions are met, such as when government is able to raise additional tax or non-tax revenues.
Unprogrammed appropriations are released only after certification from the Department of Budget and Management and the Treasury that there are extra revenues.
Pimentel expressed confidence the government “will be able to mobilize the additional P6 billion” for the compensation fund which is used to pay lawful owners of properties destroyed or damaged during the five-month battle in 2017 between government security forces and extremists affiliated with the Islamic State.
“We all want the residents of Marawi to heal and succeed in rebuilding their lives, and we all want the city to fully recover and prosper,” Pimentel said.
The fund is being handled by the Marawi Compensation Board (MCB), which is constituted under Republic Act No. 11696 or the “Marawi Siege Victims Compensation Act of 2022.”
Last year during plenary deliberations on the 2024 budget, the MCB reported that from July 4 to August 31, it received 4,762 filed claims, which translates to roughly P17.46 billion for claims filed in just two months.
The MCB has since started paying P350,000 each to the heirs of victims who died.
The law also compensates the owners of demolished properties, pursuant to the Marawi Recovery, Rehabilitation, and Reconstruction Program, and the heirs of those who died, or are legally presumed dead, on account of the siege.
Last month, the board also announced it would soon start paying approved claims for structures lost or destroyed, at a rate of P12,000 per sqm for concrete structures, P9,000 per sqm for mixed concrete and wood, and P6,000 per sqm if made of light materials, or mainly wood.
