DELA ROSA BATS FOR ADDITIONAL FUNDS FOR DHSUD, MARAWI;
REMINDS THE TASK FORCE TO ENSURE AMENITIES BY END 2021

Senator Ronald 'Bato' Dela Rosa expressed full support in increasing the budget of the housing department as well as the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the war-torn Marawi City to ensure a decent and permanent shelter for all Filipinos.

In his manifestation during the Senate public hearing on the proposed budget of the Department of Human Settlement and Urban Development (DHSUD) under the General Appropriation Act of 2021, Dela Rosa, who chairs the Senate Special Committee on Marawi Rehabilitation, underscored the need to allocate sufficient funding for the Marawi Rehabilitation Program of the government. He also stressed his support to likewise increasing the budget for the DHSUD, the agency in charge of the Task Force Bangon Marawi.

"Mr. President, as the chairman of the Special Committee on Marawi Rehabilitation, I would like to manifest that I will give my support to any budget increase for the Marawi Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Recovery Fund Program of the Department of Human Settlements and Development," Dela Rosa said, adding that it is high time for collective efforts from various agencies of the government to help the war victims to start anew.

"It has been 3 years since the government declared liberation from the Maute group, which displaced thousands of families. Our brothers and sisters are still struggling for permanent shelter. Mr. President, no words can express my personal, and perhaps our collective frustrations on what happened to the bustling city of Marawi. But let us all channel these frustrations into collective action and aid our countrymen to stand up again and start anew," Dela Rosa said.

"I likewise express my full support on the subsidy increase of the housing agencies of the DHSUD. This will bridge the gap to the ballooning housing backlogs in the country. The COVID-19 highlights the need for a permanent house for every family where home schooling and work from home set up are now the "new normal," the senator explained.

Dela Rosa reminded the task force that the residents of the war-torn city requested for the availability of basic amenities by the time they return to their homes by the end of 2021. The Senator finds these requests expressed during the Marawi hearing earlier this year reasonable and would like to ensure that they would be complied with.

"If you can remember, madam sponsor, nung nagpublic hearing tayo doon sa Marawi, hindi lang reconstruction ng kanilang pamamahay ang kanilang hinihingi ah, kundi dapat meron ding tubig, merong kuryente at basta lahat ng amenities para magiging livable yung kanilang pagbabalik dun sa MAA. So dapat, na-take note yan ng Task Force Bangon Marawi," Dela Rosa stressed.

Aside from the Covid19 pandemic, Dela Rosa even noted the various challenges Filipinos have been facing the past months. He stressed the importance of a permanent home for every family and recognizes the role of government to provide decent shelter to its people.

"Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, our country has likewise been continuously hit by typhoons, the most recent being typhoon Ulysses, which left thousands of homes in ruins, especially our kababayans in Bicol and Region 2," Dela Rosa said.

Newly appointed DHSUD Secretary Ed Del Rosario assured the members of the Senate that Task Force Bangon Marawi is still on track with the December 2021 completion of the Marawi Rehabilitation.