Senatorial candidate Herbert “Bistek” Bautista has called on Congress and Malacañang to ensure the passage of the Marawi Compensation Bill into law before President Rodrigo Duterte’s term ends.
He lamented that the proposed legislation is not even being discussed as an issue for Duterte’s successor.
“I call on our lawmakers and the President to pass the Marawi Compensation Bill. We need to pass this under the present administration,” he said.
“All presidential aspirants, who have been interviewed, failed to even mention the issue of compensation for displaced Maranaos,” added Bautista who, as mayor of Quezon City for three terms, introduced tax reforms that raised revenues for key infrastructure projects in Metro Manila’s largest city in terms of land size.
He hailed the Senate’s passage of the Marawi Compensation bill on third and final reading.
“After this, it would be submitted to President Duterte for his signature for it to fully become law. The passage of the Marawi City Compensation Bill will be the legacy of the 18th Congress and the Duterte administration to the Maranao IDPs and residents of ground zero in Marawi City,” he said.
“This is a concrete way to start the real rehabilitation of people from Marawi who continue to suffer from the destruction of their homes and livelihood,” Bautista added.
Nearly five years since terror groups with links to Islamic State laid siege to Marawi City, at least 300,000 city residents remained displaced.
Only 2,800 out of at least 83,000 families have applied for building permits and only 2,800 permanent shelters are targeted for completion by June this year, Bautista said.
“Even if we add all those numbers, that’s too small compared to a total of 83,000 Maranao families who have been affected,” he added.