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Rodrigo Duterte
AsiaSoutheast Asia

Cost to rebuild war-shattered Philippine city could surpass US$1 billion

Security forces have engaged in ferocious street to street combat and launched air strikes in their efforts to expel the fighters from the city of Marawi

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Government soldiers stand guard in front of damaged buildings and houses in Marawi City. Photo: Reuters
Agencies

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said 50 billion pesos (US$975 million) would 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.

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Duterte said his drug war will continue and that big-time personalities will be hunted down even as the campaign has led to killings of teenagers, inflaming public indignation. 

“There are some people who died, even teenagers, it doesn’t mean to say that you have to stop. We cannot stop.”

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More than 800 militants, government troops and civilians have since been killed in the conflict. Photo: EPA
More than 800 militants, government troops and civilians have since been killed in the conflict. Photo: EPA
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