FILE PHOTO: In this undated photo, a new road has been built amid the ruins of buildings and other structures in the former commercial district of Marawi City. Government compensation for properties damaged during the five-month siege in 2017 is expected to hasten the city鈥檚 rebuilding. INQUIRER/RICHEL V. UMEL
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� The Marawi Compensation Board (MCB) is requesting 51 permanent positions to accelerate the distribution of compensation to survivors of the 2017 Marawi siege.
During Tuesday鈥檚 hearing of the Senate subcommittee on finance on the proposed 2025 budget for MCB, the body鈥檚 head pointed to a lack of manpower for the slow payouts.
According to MCB Chairperson Maisara Dandamun-Latiph, their office currently has 122 personnel while 14,495 claims have been filed to date.
Of the total filed claims, 635 have already been resolved and paid, she added.
READ: P1 billion set aside for Marawi payout in 2025 budget
鈥淚nsufficient human resources lang naman po. Naiisip po namin na kung gusto po namin ma-maintain ang aming performance, dapat po talaga [ay] madagdagan kami ng 51 na plantilla position,鈥� Dandamun-Latiph said.
(It鈥檚 just insufficient human resources. We are thinking that if we want to maintain our performance, our manpower should be increased by 51 plantilla positions.)
鈥淎ng target po namin every year ay 2,160 dahil 鈥榶un po ang kapasidad namin ngayon. Pero kung mapapabilis po namin at madadagdagan ang manpower, baka matapos po namin ang 3,000 annually na target namin, at by 2028 tapos na po namin [lahat ng claimants],鈥� the Marawi board official also explained.
(Our target every year is 2,160 because that鈥檚 our current capacity. But if we can speed it up and increase the manpower, maybe we will finish our 3,000 annual target and by 2028 we will have finished [all claimants])
READ: P1.13 billion set for Marawi compensation in 2024
Budget hearing presider Sen. Risa Hontiveros clarified with Dandamun-Latiph if her request for 51 plantilla positions is anchored on the MCB鈥檚 mandate to complete its task within the body鈥檚 existence, the MCB head answered in the affirmative.
鈥淎ng kagandahan po kasi ng plantilla [ay] sila po ay under oath. Ang atin pong binabayaran dito ay malalaking amount. Kapag under oath po sila ibig sabihin po meron po silang kaukulang obligasyon sa gobyerno na igihan ang trabaho [at] kung hindi po ay sila po ay magkakaroon ng accountability sa batas,鈥� said Dandamun-Latiph.
(The beauty of the plantilla they are under oath. What we pay here are large amounts. When they are under oath, it means that they have a corresponding obligation to the government to get the job done and if they don鈥檛, they will have accountability under the law.)
Dandamun-Latiph explained during the hearing the process of dispensing compensation to survivors of the 2017 Marawi siege. According to her, each claim is being tackled by the MCB for at least 22 days of adjudication.
She said the process included four days of Division Hearing, seven days of聽Decision Writing, nine days of Decision Review, and two days of En Banc Deliberation.
鈥淧ara po maliwanagan ang lahat, hindi po automatic na kapag nag-file kayo ng claim [ay] bukas may bayad na po. Hindi po ganoon, dahil ang batas ang nagsabi na it has to be adjudicated,鈥� she pointed out.
(Just to clarify,聽 it is not automatic that when you file a claim you鈥檒l get paid tomorrow. It鈥檚 not like that, because the law says that it has to be adjudicated.)