MARAWI CITY, Lanao del Sur (PIA)--To finally formulate the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) for the Republic Act No. 11696 or the Marawi Siege Victims Compensation Act of 2022, the Marawi Compensation Board (MCB) held a public consultation on Thursday, April 27 which was joined by experts from various community sectors and internally displaced persons (IDPs) who were affected by the war in the city in 2017.
Such an activity intended to present the board’s initial draft and gather significant notes from the participants which would be consolidated and taken into consideration in crafting the final and quality rules.
MCB Chairperson Lawyer Maisara Dandamun-Latiph stressed that they need to adopt an IRR to enforce the Marawi Siege Victims Compensation Act of 2022 efficiently, timely, and effective manner.
“This public hearing seeks your comments, suggestions, opinions and positions on the proper and effective implementation of the law that will hopefully give much-needed wisdom to the board,” she said.
Latiph has stressed that no amount of money can compensate for the lost lives, and physical, emotional and psychological destruction caused by the siege that still lingers up to this day.
She stated that even the city and its nearby municipalities have not yet recovered, however, she underscored that the payment would at least address their concerns and regain a measured amount of dignity and justice.
“It seeks to compensate all the victims of war. We hope no one will be left behind,” said Latiph.
The MCB chairperson conveyed that this has been one of the events they would pursue in fulfillment of their mandate which is to grant payment to the siege victims.
She shared that since the establishment of the Board, they have already started working non-stop which resulted in attaining some milestones in accordance with their action plan.
Latiph reiterated that the Board is an independent quasi-judicial body created pursuant to the Republic Act No. 11696 or the Marawi Siege Victims Compensation Act of 2022 which was signed by former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte a year ago, on April 30, 2022.
Looking back, she underlined that the law was really a fruit of a series of hard work and lobbying to the Congress, Senate and President.
Apart from granting payment to approved claimants, Latiph added that the board is a transitional justice mechanism that promotes healing and reconciliation between the parties, from the national government down to those who were impacted by the conflict.
“Ang tagal ng paghintay natin para makarating tayo sa punto na ito. Alhamdulillah, nakarating din tayo,” she said.
(We have been waiting for so long to reach this point. Alhamdulillah, we are able to arrive here.) (CRG/PIA-10/Lanao del Sur)
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