MANILA, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Wednesday it is considering a 400-million-U.S. dollar emergency relief package to assist in the rebuilding and rehabilitation of war-ravaged Marawi City in the southern Philippines.
The Manila-based bank said the ADB's package of assistance, which is expected to be approved and signed in early December, seeks to help provide flexible and immediate financing for the city's rebuilding and rehabilitation, including the improvement of the city's connectivity through better public infrastructure.
ADB added it is also preparing to help restore water utilities and health infrastructure, improve the delivery of social services, and provide livelihoods to affected residents of Marawi in Lanao del Sur province.
Lanao del Sur is the poorest province in the southeast Asian country, with nearly three-fourths of its population living below the poverty line.
The Islamic State-linked terrorists attacked Marawi in May 2017, triggering a five-month firefight that displaced more than 300,000 people and destroyed much of the city. More than 1,200 people, including soldiers and terrorists, were killed in the wake of the fighting.
Large swaths of the city, especially in the city's central business district, are a pock-marked moonscape of heavily damaged buildings, shops and houses.
"ADB is committed to helping rebuild the city of Marawi into a thriving economic center where people live in peace and prosperity," ADB Vice President Stephen Groff said in a statement.
Groff added ADB is "preparing a comprehensive assistance package that seeks to help ease the adverse social impact of the armed conflict on the city and its residents."
Established in 1966, ADB has 67 members, 48 of them from the Asia-Pacific region.
