Opposition Senators Leila de Lima and Risa Hontiveros on Tuesday lauded the Senate for approving on third and final reading the bill that seeks to expedite the proposed compensation law for those whose homes and properties were destroyed during the five-month siege in Marawi City.
The Senate approved Senate Bill No. 2420 or the Marawi Siege Victims Compensation Act of 2021 on Monday, Jan. 31, 2022, an act that is seen to help the residents of Marawi City rebuild their lives.
“The passage of the Marawi Compensation Bill in the Senate is a step toward healing. Ang pagpasa nito ay hindi lang pagbibigay ng suporta sa ating mga kapatid na Maranao, kundi pagbibigay din ng pag-asa (It’s approval not only gives support to our Marano brothers and sisters btu also gives hope),” Senator Risa Hontiveros said in a statement.
“May this measure also be a national acknowledgment of the Maranao concept of maratabat: a value about honor, dignity, sense of pride,” she said.
Hontiveros said she is grateful to have co-authored the bill and thanked Sen. Sonny Angara for fighting for the rights and welfare of the Maranaos.
De Lima, another co-author of the bill, said the measure’s enactment into law would guarantee that war-torn Marawi would be nursed back to life.
“The road has been long but here we are finally helping the residents of Marawi pick up the pieces with Senate Bill No. 2420...by ensuring that the victims are provided with compensation for their loss or destruction of their properties,” De Lima said.
The bill also recognizes the needs of the internally-displaced persons (IDPs) who were driven out by a battle that has left them either widowed or orphaned and homeless.
“We will continue to rehabilitate Marawi and breathe life back into it through meaningful programs and legislative measures,” the detained senator said.
“When the last dust has settled, we will ensure that not only do we serve justice, but that memories of the lost are valued by giving those they left behind a tomorrow to hope for,” she added.
Both Hontiveros and De Lima are seeking to get re-elected in the upcoming May 2022 senatorial elections.