Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Koshikawa Kazuhiko virtually graced the ceremonial handover of 462 permanent houses in Marawi City last May 19, 2022 together with Task Force Bangon Marawi (TFBM) chairman and Department of Human Settlements and Development (DHSUD) Secre-tary Eduardo Del Rosario, Marawi City mayor Majul Gandamra, UN-Habitat regional representative Atsushi Koresawa, United Nations resident coordinator in the Philippines Gustavo Gonzales, UN-Habitat Philippines Country Programme manager Christopher Rollo, and Social Housing Finance Corp. (SHFC) president Arnolfo Ricardo Cabling.
462 permanent houses located in Barangay Patani were turned over to beneficiaries who had been displaced during the 2017 Marawi siege as the final phase of the project between the Government of Japan and UN-Habitat Philippines.
On March 15, 2018, the Government of Japan provided a grant of $10 million in support of UN-Habitat’s program to provide core shelters and livelihood support for those directly affected by the Marawi siege. Now called the Hadiya (gift) Village, the first phase of the project was completed with the turnover of 109 permanent houses located in Brgy. Dulay West on February 25, 2021.
The second phase of the project was completed with the turnover of 170 permanent houses in Da-russalam Village (Barangay Dulay Proper) and Pamayandeg sa Ranaw Residences at Dansalan (Baran-gay Gadongan) on July 22, 2021, and an additional 109 permanent houses turned over in these ar-eas on March 3, 2022. The third phase of the project provided 150 permanent houses in Brgy. Kila-la on October 15, 2021. A total of one thousand houses have been turned over at the completion of this joint project.
“Japan’s support to Mindanao will go on. Japan will continue its support to the Philippine Govern-ment, the current and next administration, for furthering progress in the Mindanao Peace Process and development. We greatly hope we can keep working together to achieve a better tomorrow,” said Amb. Koshikawa.
This ceremonial turnover is part of the Government of Japan’s commitment to the reconstruction and rehabilitation of Marawi City, and its unwavering support for the Mindanao Peace Process.