THE Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) does not see the Marawi crisis ending before President Rodrigo Duterte’s second State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 24 as about 600 buildings have yet to be cleared of terrorists and booby traps, its spokesman said on Friday. “[T]he 10 to 15 days is beyond the SONA by the way so don’t expect it to be before the SONA,” Padilla said during the “Mindanao Hour” news briefing in Malacañang. The President has said that any decision to extend military rule in Mindanao will depend on the military’s assessment. Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno announced on Friday that the government had allocated an initial P5 billion for the recovery and rehabilitation of Marawi City in 2017. “For the rest of the year, from August to December, that’s five months, I have already identified some P5 billion for the Marawi restoration.

Source: Manila Times July 14, 2017 17:03 UTC