COTABATO CITY—The Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) on Tuesday adopted a resolution requesting the Senate to expedite the approval of the Marawi compensation bill. 

“The victims of the Marawi Siege have been waiting for four years to be compensated for the damages and loss that they have sustained,” the Parliament expressed in a resolution. 

“With the recent development in the House of Representatives and recognizing the urgency of the matter, the BTA Parliament calls for the expeditious consideration of the said Senate Bill No. 1395,” BTA stressed. 

The House of Representatives had already approved on third and final reading the bill seeking to provide compensation to qualified claimants for the loss or destruction of residential and commercial properties during the Marawi siege in 2017. 

“House Bill No. 995 is not just about mere compensation but the right direction towards healing the scars of our brothers and sisters in Marawi and taking one step further towards a genuine recovery,” BARMM Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim said. 

The Senate version of the bill, SB 1395, also known as the “Marawi Siege Victims Compensation Act of 2020”, also intends to provide victims who lost their properties with monetary reparation. 

The measure is still pending for approval at the Senate’s committee level. It was referred to the Committee on Finance and Special Committee on Marawi City Rehabilitation.

Authors of the senate bill are Senators Juan Miguel Zubiri, Ronald dela Rosa, Francis Tolentino, Christopher Lawrence Go, and Imee Marcos.

“The estimated cost of damages to socio-economic, infrastructure, equipment and facilities is at more than P8 billion,” the authors said in an explanatory note. 

An amount of P30 billion pesos was allotted to serve as the initial source of funds for implementing the act. (Publication and Media Relations Division)