A watchdog monitoring the rehabilitation in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur on Thursday called on the government to disclose how much donations has it received and spent, and why rehabilitation works are taking too long.
At a news conference in Quezon City, Saripada Pacasum Jr. of the Marawi Reconstruction Conflict Watch said: “since the government is into transparency, so why not tell us?”
“We are suffering everyday. Many of us are now thinking why it should be that way. Where has the money gone?” he asked.
He said they even do not know the actual amount of donations that went to the Marawi rehabilitation.
“We are in the dark. When in fact, it is our land. We are being used as an excuse for donations,” he added.
According to Pacasum, the Marawi rehabilitation was a “special case” to exempt it from the Commission on Audit’s observation from the procurement law.
“It should not be applied. It is the people they serve. We in Marawi pay taxes. I myself pay my taxes through deductions from my wages,” he said.
He was joined by the other conflict watch members—Jalila Hadji Sapiin, Dr. Rolanisah Dipatuan and Dr. Fedelina Tawagon as well as Nikki de la Rosa of the International Alert Philippines.
“We deserve to know. There was no categorical statement if we could return to Marawi or not,” Tawagon said.
Quoting Congress, the watchdog said over P4 billion of the P10-billion fund earmarked for the war-torn Marawi’s rehabilitation would be rendered useless this year if the Department of Budget and Management would not obligate it.
“We have seen how much the government is in disarray when we attended the [congressional] hearing. They have been feeding us for so long with practically nothing about the status of the rehabilitation. We want clear answers,” Dipatuan said.
The Marawi crisis was a five-month-long armed conflict between the government forces and pro-ISIS militants that started on May 23, 2017.