Marawi funds intact, says OCD

MANILA, Philippines — The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) yesterday said the unused funds from local and foreign donations for the Marawi siege are intact.

OCD administrator Ricardo Jalad said the donations amounting to P39.91 million intended to help the thousands of victims in the siege of Marawi City in May 2017 are still there.

Instead of relying on these donations, Jalad said the OCD utilized its Quick Response Fund (QRF) to ensure expeditious delivery of services to the victims in Marawi.

“We would like to assure the public that the funds for the victims of the Marawi siege in the amount of P36.91 million from various donors is still with the OCD and are not missing. The reason for the low utilization of the donated funds is that the OCD was instead utilizing its QRF to ensure expeditions delivery of services to the victims,” Jalad said.

Jalad, also the executive director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), issued the statement in response to the report of the Commission on Audit (COA) noting the low release of the funds for the victims of the five-month armed conflict.

Jalad, however, did not specify how much of the QRF was spent.

The battle in Marawi claimed the lives of 1,099 persons, 160 of them government troops, 802 local and foreign terrorists and 47 civilians.

As part of its mandate, the OCD is obliged to provide financial assistance amounting to P10,000 for each victim killed in man-made or natural calamities and P5,000 for each wounded.

However, availing of this financial assistance is tedious, as claimants or beneficiaries have to secure various documents that are often difficult to obtain.

The OCD has often been criticized for its slow response in reporting casualties in disaster stricken areas, stressing they have to go through various stages of validation.

The COA noted that out of the P36,920,725 donations that OCD received from various local and foreign sources for the Marawi victims, only P10,000 was used, thus leaving a balance of P39.91million.

Jalad explained the QRF was used for funeral expenses, transportation assistance for the victims, feeding programs in schools, provision of food, non-food items and family packs, rice augmentation for Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office, procurement of various items for evacuation centers in Lanao del Norte, reconstruction of school buildings and support to the Task Force Bangon Marawi (TFBM) field office.

“The OCD, as overall coordinator of the NDRRMC and TFBM, ensures that utilization of all available funds by facilitating the formulation and processing of programs,” Jalad said.

As of May 30, 2019, a total of P5,164,594,449.36 has been released for the implementation of the Marawi Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Program, Jalad said.

He said P4.8 billion of the P5.1 billion was released in 2018, while P213 million was released this year.

“As discussed with the TFBM chairman, Secretary Eduardo del Rosario, the P36.91-million donated funds in the custody of the OCD will form part of the funding for the projects that will be implemented for the rehabilitation and recovery of Marawi City,” Jalad said.

OCD has also utilized funds not reflected in the COA report. Jalad said P1 million was used to support the TFBM field office for the project during the Ramadan holiday on June 5.