Philippines Needs More Than 50 Billion Pesos to Rebuild Marawi
- Duterte wants human rights budget spent on police equipment
- Military says it has retaken two more militant strongholds
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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said 50 billion pesos ($975 million) will not be enough to rebuild the southern city of Marawi, citing massive damage caused by the conflict between government troops and Islamic State-linked militants that’s been running for almost four months.
In a Saturday night speech after presenting a police officer released by communist rebels to the media, Duterte also said he wants the budget that was slashed from the Commission on Human Rights to be spent instead on police equipment. He had accused the human rights chief of being a spokesman of his political opponents, who he alleged want him ousted as president.