A leader of the House of Representatives on Wednesday called on the Palace to grant the multi-agency Task Force Bangon Marawi implementing the Marawi Rehabilitation and Recovery Plan an exemption from strict procurement laws, especially ones that endanger funds intended for the city through expiration.
Deputy Speaker Mujiv Hataman made the statement in the wake of what he described as a “very disappointing” congressional hearing of the House Sub-Committee on the Marawi Rehabilitation on the status of the rehabilitation efforts on Tuesday as resource persons from the task force came unprepared and presented a patchwork of incomplete facts and data.
“It is very disconcerting to know briefing after briefing, the task force cannot give us the big picture on what’s going on in the Marawi rehabilitation,” Hataman, representative of Basilan, said in exasperation during the committee hearing on the Marawi Compensation Bill filed by the House leader and several other representatives.
“I sense no urgency at all on the part of members of the task force. Our people in Marawi has been waiting for the much needed help from the government for two years now, and then we find out that a significant part of the rehab funds is in danger of expiration or will likely revert back to the National Treasury because of procedural lapses or lack of foresight on the limitations?” he added.
Hataman also expressed dismay when he found out that over P4 billion out of the P10 billion earmarked for Marawi in 2018 remains unreleased by the Department of Budget and Management and in danger of expiring in a couple of months.
He said Malacañang can issue an Executive Order granting the task force exemption from strict procurement laws, especially Executive Order 91, which implements a Cash Budgeting System for government spending. It states that any unobligated or undisbursed funds for any purpose will revert back after three months to the National Treasury.
“And no one can even answer for the P3.5 billion earmarked for the victims for 2019. Malaking sayang sa pera, effort at panahon kung hindi ito magagamit ng mga taga-Marawi. The task force should act with compassion and with a sense of urgency,” Hataman said.
In the same hearing, Lanao del Norte Rep. Mohamad Khalid Dimaporo even said it is disappointing”if we cannot complete the rehabilitation of Marawi City within the Duterte administration.”
Hataman also said he was disappointed the task force sent representatives who are not prepared to answer all the questions that the committee, chaired by Lanao del Sur Rep. Ansaruddin Adiong, and civil society organizations (CSOs) in Marawi have to ask.
TFBM chairperson and concurrent Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) Secretary Eduardo del Rosario was not able to attend, but sent several persons to speak on behalf of the member-agencies of the task force.
This exasperated Hataman who said that “the members of the task force should also be prepared. These people came here for answers, and again they will be going home with nothing at all.”
“What we heard are a patchwork of incomplete data and we cannot use this to see the big picture. The people of Marawi are turning to us for answers. How can we do that if we cannot rely on the task force to give us those answers?” he said.
