Half of Marawi Compensation Claims Unpaid Before Polls — SkimNews
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- Marawi Compensation Board has disbursed roughly 6.5 billion pesos (S$131.5 million) so far, but at least half of an estimated 14,000 claimants remain unpaid and the board's mandate expires in 2028.
- The 2017 Marawi siege between Philippine forces and Islamic State-linked Maute gunmen killed over 1,000 people, mostly civilians, and left more than 300 missing according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
- Sophia Aminolla, whose brother Amerel vanished after being taken to a hospital for explosion injuries, now leads an advocacy group for the war missing after her family's claim was rejected for lacking a government death certificate.
- Roughly 10% of Marawi's 2017 population of about 200,000 have yet to return or be resettled, according to former wartime mayor Majul Gandamra.
- Families at the Sagonsongan resettlement site remain in cramped 16-square-meter units past a 2022 move-out deadline, with no tap water and intermittent power, mother-of-six Annalyn Pangandaman told AFP.
- The Bangsamoro region's first elections are scheduled for September 13, giving the autonomous Muslim area its first vote since the post-siege transition government was installed.
Why it matters: With the Marawi Compensation Board's mandate expiring in 2028 and at least half of an estimated 14,000 claimants still unpaid, thousands of siege survivors remain outside the restitution process. The September 13 elections, Bangsamoro's first, unfold against unresolved mass graves, missing persons, and roughly 10% of Marawi's pre-siege population still not resettled.
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