MANILA, Philippines — The European Union on Thursday said it is finding ways to send assistance to the battle-scarred Marawi City amid the Duterte administration’s back-to-back rejection of what it perceives as conditional aid from the bloc.

Speaking to reporters, EU Ambassador to the Philippines Franz Jessen said European officials here are in discussion with the government on how the bloc can assist in rebuilding Marawi, which was stormed by ISIS-inspired terrorists last year.

“So we are there, we are looking at different ways to offer them support and we are in actually very close consultations... also with the Department of Finance to see how this assistance can be considered,” Jessen said.

Europe’s offer to help revive Marawi came after the Philippine government announced it would turn down conditional assistance from international donors to discourage them from meddling in Manila’s internal affairs, and as part of the administration’s “independent foreign policy.”

The EU has been a strong critic of President Rodrigo Duterte's bloody anti-drug campaign, which has left scores dead.

Last year, Jessen disclosed that the EU might give as much as 100 million euros (P6 billion) for the rehabilitation of Marawi, adding that job creation would be the “major focus” of the grant as well as other peace initiatives in Mindanao.

If things go well, Jessen at the time said the planned aid should proceed.

For his part, European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines President Guenter Taus said talks are ongoing regarding the possibility of channeling European aid for Marawi through a government-to-business setup.

“Just because the government rejects aid officially from government-to-government doesn’t mean we necessarily have to do this government-to-government,” Taus told reporters. “If there’s a will, we’ll find ways.”

This article was originally published in the Philippine Star on May 18, 2018:  https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/05/18/1816427/eu-says-ready-assist-marawi-despite-aid-rejection#VvtGCqqLsfY9kWBz.99