On behalf of the Philippine government, the Department of Finance (DOF) has expressed its gratitude to China for the early arrival of its donation of $3 million-worth of heavy equipment to be used for the recovery, reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts in Marawi City.
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said the Philippine and Chinese officials are now facilitating the documents in preparation for the official turnover of the donation, which is set to be tentatively held at the Iligan Port in Iligan City later this month.
“We are thankful to the Chinese government for the swift and timely arrival of its donation at the Iligan Port. China was among the first countries to offer its assistance in rehabilitating Marawi City, a gesture that further cements our strong bilateral relations and reflects the warm friendship between our two countries,” Dominguez said.
The donation, which consists of dump trucks, cement mixers, excavators and bulldozers, were delivered at the Port of Iligan on Oct. 9. The pieces of heavy equipment are estimated to be valued at 20 million renminbi or around $3 million.
As this is a government-to-government donation, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), which is the vice-chair of Task Force Bangon Marawi, has been tasked to oversee the use of the equipment, Dominguez said.
Besides its donation to Marawi City, China has also donated security materials and equipment to the Philippine National Police (PNP), Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the Presidential Security Group (PSG) as part of its commitment under the Agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation with the Philippines that was signed during President Duterte’s state visit to China last year.
The accord involves a 100-million renminbi grant from China to implement projects for “anti-illegal drugs and law enforcement security cooperation.”
The DOF is also set to sign an agreement in the form of exchange of letters with the Chinese embassy for the construction of drug rehabilitation facilities in the provinces
of Agusan del Sur and Saranggani, both of which will be funded by a $60 million grant from China.
According to the DOF’s International Finance Group, the Department of Health is now facilitating the necessary documents to clear the way for the construction of the rehabilitation facilities.
The agreements forged between the Manila and Beijing during President Duterte’s state visit last year to China include soft loans totaling $9 billion and other economic deals amounting to about $15 billion.
Dominguez III said the impending end of the drawn-out conflict in Marawi City will further boost investor confidence in the economy, more so now that the government can focus on a comprehensive plan to reconstruct the southern city and provide economic opportunities for its returning residents.
Dominguez said the record performance of the stock market following President Duterte’s announcement last Tuesday of the “liberation” of Marawi City from Islamist militants pointed to the positive investor sentiment on the end of the conflict.
The President announced Marawi’s liberation after the deaths of terrorist leaders Isnilon Hapilon and Omarkhayam Maute in the hands of military sharpshooters during a predawn offensive on Monday. The two Islamist militants led the attack on Marawi last May 23.
Dominguez noted that even with the crisis in Marawi City and the declaration of martial law in Mindanao, the business community has remained bullish on the economy and supported the President’s decisive action to deal with the terrorist attack.
“We expect investor confidence to strengthen further and the economy to grow even faster now that the conflict has been virtually resolved and the government has started raising spending on infrastructure and human capital development, which will supercharge growth and create more jobs for our people,” Dominguez said.
The government still has to conduct clearing operations and assess the extent of the damage in Marawi so that it could come up with a detailed recovery, reconstruction and rehabilitation program for the city, but efforts are now underway to provide immediate assistance to displaced residents and open up economic opportunities that would enable them to get back on their feet and rebuild their lives.
President Duterte created last July an interagency task force chaired by Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana that will spearhead the recovery, reconstruction and rehabilitation program for Marawi City.
Although the Department of Finance (DOF) is not a member of the Task Force, it is involved in the fund-raising aspect for the program, with Dominguez revealing plans last August for the Bureau of Treasury to sell “patriotic” bonds to aid in Marawi’s rehabilitation.
