MANILA, Philippines, November 23 ------ The House of Representatives will seek an increase in the calamity fund under the proposed 2021 national budget for the reconstruction of areas devastated by recent typhoons. In a statement yesterday, Speaker Lord Allan Velasco said the House would propose the increase of at least P5 billion during the bicameral conference on the proposed P4.506-trillion national budget for next year.
The two chambers of Congress will convene the conference after the Senate approves its own version of the budget. Velasco noted that the House passed the 2021 spending bill before Typhoons Quinta, Rolly and Ulysses wreaked havoc in many parts of the country. “Given the tremendous damage caused by these successive strong typhoons, it is imperative that we augment the calamity fund in next year’s spending plan. We have to help our people rebuild their lives and their communities,” Velasco said.
The Speaker cited reports from concerned agencies that the total damage caused by Quinta (Molave), Rolly (Goni) and Ulysses (Vamco) to infrastructure and agriculture had reached P35 billion. Under the budget submitted by President Duterte to Congress in August, which was approved by the House in its 2021 General Appropriations Bill (GAB), P20 billion will be allotted for the calamity fund next year, up by P4 billion from this year’s P16 billion. Of this P20 billion, however, P5 billion will go to Marawi reconstruction, while P6.25 billion will augment the quick response funds of six agencies.
Of the P6.25 billion, P2 billion will go to the Department of Education, P1.25 billion to the Department of Social Welfare and Development, P1 billion to the Department of Agriculture, P1 billion to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), P500 million to the Department of Health, and P500 million to the Department of National Defense-Office of Civil Defense.
“That’s a total of P11.25 billion that is specifically appropriated, leaving a balance of P8.75 billion that President Duterte could use to help victims of calamities and other disasters. That balance is not even enough to rebuild Bicol, which was hardly hit by Typhoon Rolly,” Velasco said. That is why next year’s calamity fund has to be increased to provide additional funds for the reconstruction of typhoon-damaged communities, according to the Speaker. “Alternatively, we can allocate the additional money in the budgets of the agencies involved in reconstruction and helping typhoon victims,” he said.
The Marinduque congressman gave assurance that there are enough appropriations in the proposed budget from which the needed funds could be taken. Camarines Sur Rep. LRay Villafuerte had earlier sought increase in calamity funds of provinces ravaged by recent typhoons. Villafuerte urged Duterte and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to augment the depleted calamity funds of the badly hit provinces in Bicol and Southern Tagalog regions, and other areas in Luzon.
“I am appealing to the President and the DBM to supplement the respective disaster risk reduction and management funds of LGUs (local government units) in badly hit places of CamSur and elsewhere in Bicol and Southern Luzon for their immediate relief and rehabilitation operations,” Villafuerte said in a statement. “The affected LGUs are in dire need of calamity fund augmentation so they could attend to the immediate food and shelter needs of their respective constituents, especially those who have lost their homes partially or completely, and who now remain stuck in evacuation centers with nowhere else to go,” he added.
The Camarines Sur representative said even before the onslaught of the recent typhoons, the calamity funds of the LGUs in badly hit places were already depleted and spent on their respective localities’ COVID-19 response programs. He cited for instance his province, which suffered “a four-fold blow” by the pandemic, Quinta and Rolly over the past two weeks, and Ulysses late last week.
Source: philstar.com