Lawmakers are moving to provide monetary compensation for residents who lost properties and were displaced by the months-long war in Marawi City 4 years ago.

On Thursday, September 3, the House committee on disaster resilience unanimously approved the still-unnumbered bill on the proposed “Marawi Compensation Act,” which consolidates 3 measures seeking compensation for the victims of the 2017 Marawi siege. 

Initial versions of the Marawi compensation bill wanted to set a fixed amount for the compensation, depending on the area of the property destroyed. These were later amended during the committee deliberations.

A still-undetermined amount will be allotted under the national budget.

The House bill would now pattern the compensation package after the system implemented under Republic Act (RA) No. 10368 or the Human Rights Victims Reparations Act of 2013, which provides reparations for Martial Law victims. 

“The monetary award for claimants under this Act shall be equivalent and shall not exceed the monetary amount granted to the human rights victims recognized by RA 10368,” read the Marawi compensation bill.

Under RA 10368, Martial Law victims’ reparations range from P176,779 up to P1,767,790. This means if the House bill becomes a law, Marawi siege victims may be getting around same amount as well.

The bill assigns the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) en banc to determine the allocation for Marawi siege victims who will be filing claims.

A subcommittee on claims and compensation will also be created under Task Force Bangon Marawi  to process the claims. The subpanel is to be co-chaired by the CHR and the Bangsamoro Human Rights Commission.

Anak Mindanao Representative Amihilda Sangcopan, one of the primary authors, lauded the passage of the bill and hopes it will be sponsored in the plenary soon. 

“I am also confident that the House leadership will give this bill the same treatment as with other bills presently being deliberated upon. I believe that they will not turn a deaf ear to the mounting support to that is expressed through co-authorship of the Marawi compensation bill,” Sangcopan told Rappler.

“I trust the House of Representatives’ ability to discern what is justly needed for the people and to move in unison in bridging assistance where it is required,” she added.

Thousands of residents were displaced by the war that erupted on May 23, 2017 between government troops and homegrown terrorists from the Maute Group and a faction of the Abu Sayyaf group.  

But 3 years since the war ended, the city remains in shambles, as the government began rehabilitating the main battle area only in October 2018.

Around 17,000 Marawi residents now live in transitional shelters, an improvement from evacuation centers they occupied right after the siege, but they are still not home. 

Who will be qualified to file claims?

The Marawi compensation bill states that those who can file claims are lawful owners or possessors who became internally displaced persons after their private properties were destroyed by the war or demolished in its aftermath.

If the property owner is deceased, then his or her legal heirs would be entitled to receive the compensation.

Claims can be filed within one year after the subcommittee on claims and compensation is officially formed. – Rappler.com