The Marawi Compensation Board (MCB) said Monday it is expecting to finish its distribution of claims to Marawi 2017 siege victims by 2028.

In a “Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon” briefing, MCB chairperson Maisara Dandamun Latiph said around 14,000 persons have filed their compensation claims which amounts to almost P149 million.

“Thirty-two filed for structural property claims while 86 filed for death claims, for a total of almost 149 million,” Latiph told the briefing.

“So for this year, we are looking at compensating 1,000 to 2,000 claimants, and next year we are looking at 3,000 claimants. If we can fast-track this, hopefully, we can finish our work by 2028 and we can pay all of the 14,000 claimants,” she added.

Latiph said their current budget is P2 billion and they will request P7 billion from the government for the distribution of claims next year.

She also reminded Marawi siege victims that the deadline for filing claims is July 3.

“We are reminding all those whose houses were destroyed, whose livelihoods were lost through personal property, or those who have lost their loved ones (to the Marawi Siege) that you only have until July 3, 2024 to file your claims... So you really have to file your claims immediately, otherwise, it will be waived and you cannot file it again,” Latiph said. Jaspearl Tan/DMS