Salceda proposes P86-billion economic perk-up package

LEGAZPI CITY , Philippines  – Albay Gov. Joey Salceda yesterday proposed an P86-billion economic perk-up package to ward off the social and economic damage brought by tropical storm “Ondoy” to the National Capital Region (NCR) and 27 provinces in the country.

Salceda, one of the economic advisers of President Arroyo, said the package would come from government finance institutions like the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), the Social Security System (SSS), Pag-Ibig, Philhealth and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) which will grant emergency loans to members affected by Ondoy.

Salceda said the economic package is designed to inject liquidity into the system that has sustained both temporary disruption in incomes and permanent damage to capital assets.

“Once supply chains have been restored and survival needs have been provided, cash is the best form of social and economic relief after a disaster since victims know better their needs, beneficiaries would be more judicious in their procurement, benefit is direct and immediate,” Salceda said in proposing a comprehensive package of demand-side measures.

“This (the demand-side liquidity package) is a decisive response to mitigate the widespread social damage and overturn the potential economic drag of typhoon Ondoy,” he said.

Salceda said the GSIS should grant P4-billion worth of emergency loans to members and the SSS P28 billion using a one-year global repayment moratorium scheme for their members at a concessional five percent interest.

He said the moratorium will help members cope with the crisis and is a sure way to provide widespread relief.

“This is in lieu of current proposals of the SSS and GSIS,” Salceda said, arguing that the global repayment moratorium scheme is more pervasive and direct in impact – more take-home pay, easier to execute, less effort for members and less paper work for SSS/GSIS.

SSS currently proposes an option of incremental P24,000 salary loans payable in 24 months. The GSIS, meanwhile, proposes an emergency loan of P20,000 payable in 24 months and an incremental home loan improvement of P150,000 for loan-eligible members of Pag-Ibig whose homes suffered damage.

Pag-Ibig, for its part, should grant a P15-billion loan to members by providing incremental loans of P150,000 for eligible members. Salceda said Pag-Ibig could spend P15 billion if it would grant loans now to its 100,000 members.

Philhealth, on the other hand, could grant a three-month advance of monthly average reimbursement to its accredited outlets including the Department of Health-retained hospitals, provincial hospitals, city health offices and RHUs to help its members. Salceda said the fund could reach P4 billion.

Lastly, the BSP could set up a P35-billion five-year special rediscounting window for banks to refinance loan exposures to individuals, entrepreneurs and SMEs at 91-day T-bill plus 2 percent.

Salceda said he applied these measures in Albay when it suffered massive damages during super typhoons “Reming” and “Milenyo” in 2006

He said these measures guided Albay to its economic recovery since 2007.

“Putting in place these measures helped Albay respond effectively to a surge in morbidity rates after the disasters even while health facilities also sustained damages, ” he said.

“Summing up, GSIS will give emergency loans worth P4 billion, SSS will allot P28 billion, Pag-Ibig will allot P15 billion, Philhealth will allot P4 billion and BSP P35 billion for banks to lend to members; adding these up, it would total to an P86-billion package for the members affected by the typhoon,” said Salceda.

“All these would have minimal impact on the deficit of the national government,” he added. –Celso Amo (The Philippine Star)