Eight years after the siege, thousands of Marawi residents still wait for compensation

Johary Nagary Pacasum shows his application for compensation submitted to the Marawi Compensation Board for his house that was damaged during the 2017 Marawi Siege. He said his sari-sari store and bakery could barely feed his family. MindaNews photo by FROILAN GALLARDO

MARAWI CITY (MindaNews / 24 October) — Fifty-two-year-old Johary Naga Pacasum has lived for eight years at the temporary shelter — too long that he has given up hope that he and his family can return to his family’s ancestral home in what is called the “Most Affected Area” in Marawi City, or the part of the city that sustained the heaviest damage during the five-month siege in 2017.

Pacasum showed several documents that he submitted when he applied for the compensation promised by the government for Marawi residents  whose houses were destroyed and were displaced during the siege.

He said he filed his application with the Marawi Compensation Board (MCB) two years ago and until now it has remained frozen along with those of thousands of other affected residents.

“I literally have given up hope to return. Even BARMM (Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) could not help us. They are busy with their problems,” Pacasum said.

A vendor sells Meranaw products as a means of survival after she and thousands of other Marawi residents were displaced by the siege eight years ago. MindaNews photo by FROILAN GALLARDO

Data from the MCB showed that as of September 2025, only 1,455 claimants were paid out of the 14,495 residents who have filed their claims since the government agency was established in 2022 when the Marawi Siege Victims Compensation Act (Republic Act No. 11696) was signed into law.

The MCB was formed to handle the payment process for the thousands of displaced Marawi residents.

MCB spokesperson Johary Lumna said the board has paid P2.447 billion for 1,465 claims that were processed and approved for payment.

Lumna said the bulk of the money was paid to 65 death claimants and others, including renters and sharers whose houses were destroyed or damaged during the fighting. The business sector and the damaged schools are the last priority for payment.

A worker breaks the ground to construct a new building in downtown Marawi on October 16. Of the 14,455 residents who filed for compensation, only 1,455 claims have been paid by the Marawi Compensation Board. MindaNews photo by FROILAN GALLARDO

He said RA 11696 and its Implementing Rules and Regulations were amended in June 2025, detailing how the compensation for private properties would be made.

He said the revised IRR provide that compensation for private properties demolished under the Marawi Recovery, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Program, including those that were destroyed in the search for unexploded ordnance, will be transferred to the National Housing Authority (NHA).

He said 3,388 claimants in Barangays Datu Naga, Datu sa Dansalan, Dansalan and Sabalamanaw would be affected by the amendment.

“That would lessen our work load but this would become a problem because most residents do not trust NHA,” he said.

But for Pacasum, the waiting is too much to bear. He wanted the MCB to just hand out the compensation in lump sum to claimants like him.

He said he and his family have to face daily struggles to survive at the temporary shelter in Area 6A in Barangay Sagonsongan in Marawi City. He has five children.

“Profits from our small sari-sari and bakery could barely feed my family. I always look for odd jobs to give us extra money,” he said. (Froilan Gallardo/MindaNews)