Surigao del Sur 2nd district Rep. Johnny Pimentel (Facebook)

Surigao del Sur 2nd district Rep. Johnny Pimentel has bared that up to P6 billion more may be available this year for infusion to the Marawi Siege Victims Compensation Fund. 

“There is up to P6 billion in unprogrammed appropriations for the compensation fund in the 2024 national budget,” Pimentel, a member of the House Committee on Public Accounts, said in a statement Sunday, March 3. 

“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,” noted the Mindanaoan. 

Unprogrammed appropriations are not automatically allocated, and may become available only if funding conditions are met, such as when the government is able to raise additional tax or non-tax revenues, according to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM). 

Pimentel expressed confidence that the government “will be able to mobilize the additional P6 billion” for the compensation fund. 

“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,” said the National Unity Party (NUP) stalwart. 

The Marawi Siege Victims Compensation Law of 2022 provides payments to the lawful owners of properties that were destroyed or damaged either totally or partially, on the occasion of the siege. 

The law also compensates the owners of properties demolished 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. 

The Marawi Compensation Board (MCB) had initially reported in September 2023 that thousands of siege victims had already filed over P17 billion in combined claims. 

The MCB has since started paying P350,000 each to the heirs of victims who died. 

In February this year, the board also announced that 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. 

The Marawi Siege was a five-month-long battle in 2017 between government security forces and extremists affiliated with the Islamic State (IS).