House Minority Leader 4Ps Party-list Rep. Marcelino "Nonoy" Libanan (Contributed photo)

House Minority Leader 4Ps Party-list Rep. Marcelino "Nonoy" Libanan is supporting Malacañang’s plan to provide another P1 billion for the Marawi Siege Victims Compensation Fund, as spelled out in the P6.352-trillion National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2025. 

“No expense should be spared to enable the residents of Marawi City to rebuild and renew their lives. We must stress that adequate victim compensation is absolutely imperative for survivors to fully heal and recover,” Libanan said. 

Libanan is a lawyer by profession and one-time chairperson of the House Committee on Justice, which has jurisdiction over all matters relating to the administration of justice. 

Congress had initially approved P1 billion for the fund in 2023, and another P1 billion this year, without counting unprogrammed appropriations, according to Libanan. The P1 billion being sought by President Marcos under the 2025 NEP is fresh appropriations 

The Marawi Siege Victims Compensation Law of 2022 mandates reparation to lawful owners of properties destroyed or damaged, either totally or partially, on the occasion of the five-month-long armed clash between government security forces and terrorist groups. 

The law also repays owners of properties demolished pursuant to the Marawi Recovery, Rehabilitation, and Reconstruction Program, as well as the heirs of those who lost their lives, or are legally presumed dead, on account of the siege. 

The 2017 Marawi siege, also known as the Battle of Marawi or the Marawi crisis, left the city in ruins, and dislocated more than 200,000 residents. 

More than 95 percent of structures within the city’s main affected areas of 24 barangays were either heavily damaged or totally collapsed, mainly due to heavy aerial and artillery bombardment by government forces. 

The Marawi Compensation Board (MCB) concluded on July 3, 2024 the application period for claims related to the siege. 

The MCB, in a report published on its website, said it received a total of 14,495 claims, broken down into: 8,393 multiple claims; 5,701 for other property; 209 for structural property; and 192 death claims. 

In his third State of the Nation Address (SONA), Marcos had cited the government’s ongoing rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts in Marawi, which are now under Malacañang’s direct supervision. 

“Our focus remains on restoring energy, water, and livable communities,” Marcos said.