Moratorium on loan payments, others extended

Vice President Noli de Castro has approved a three-month moratorium on housing-loan payments for Pag-IBIG Fund members to alleviate the borrowers’ burden from recent flooding. “We are heeding the clamor of Pag-IBIG members to alleviate their debt burden in the aftermath of Typhoon Ondoy by extending a three months’ moratorium on payment of their amortizations,” de Castro, also the concurrent chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, said in a statement on Monday.

Members whose houses have been severely damaged, the Vice President added, could now tap Pag-IBIG’s home reconstruction and rehabilitation loan program on top of their calamity and regular housing loans.

The moratorium and the home rehabilitation program will cover affected Pag-IBIG members from Regions I, II III, IV-A, IV-B, National Capital Region (Metro Manila) and Cordillera Autonomous Region.

To qualify for the moratorium, the member-borrower must be up to date in his membership contributions at point of application as well as with his short-term and housing loan payments.

The moratorium will start on September 26, 2009 and will expire on December 31, 2009.

Applications to avail of the loan moratorium may be filed with Pag-IBIG branches where the loan is maintained within 30 days from October 5, 2009.

Another moratorium

Also, de Castro approved a moratorium on loan payments of beneficiaries under the Community Mortgage Program (CMP) implemented by the Social Housing Finance Corp. and the relocation programs of the National Housing Authority.

“I have been going around the resettlement sites as well as inspected various CMP projects in the calamity-stricken areas and I have seen the extent of devastation and economic displacement brought about by Typhoon Ondoy on the beneficiaries,” the Vice President said.

Additionally, according to de Castro, members can borrow up to a maximum of P150,000 at 8-percent interest rate under Pag-IBIG’s home rehabilitation loan program.

To qualify, members must have made at least 24 months of contribution at the time of application, not more than 65 years old and must be insurable, has the legal capacity to acquire real property and has passed the credit, employment and business checks of Pag-IBIG.

Members whose housing units have been foreclosed, cancelled or bought back, however, are excluded from availing of the loan program.

Jaime Fabiaña, Pag-IBIG’s chief executive officer, said that the following documents should be submitted to avail of the home rehabilitation loan—duly notarized Affidavit of Claim, if applicable; barangay (village) certificate attesting that borrower’s property has been damaged by Ondoy; estimated cost of damage duly signed by licensed engineer; and bill of materials and specifications for repair works or minor construction.

Insurance claim

Members whose houses are currently mortgaged with Pag-IBIG may also file for non-life insurance claim covering the difference of the estimated cost of repairs and the proceeds from the non-life insurance claim, provided it does not exceed P150,000.

Like its regular housing loan program, the pieces of property should be covered by appropriate titles issued by the Register of Deeds “free from all liens and encumbrances” and should be in the name of the borrower.

Members can avail of the rehabilitation loan within 60 days starting October 5, 2009.

For any inquiry on the new program, they can visit any Pag-IBIG branch or call the Pag-IBIG hotline at 724-4244.

Labor program

Also pitching in to help Ondoy’s victims get back on their feet, Secretary Marianito Roque of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) also on Tuesday ordered the activation of the department’s emergency employment assistance program that would provide short-term and emergency wage employment to margina-lized workers in areas hardly hit by the tropical storm.

In a statement, Roque said that the program would especially focus on those who lost their income and source of livelihood because of Ondoy.

The emergency employment program will initially assist some 1,450 workers in Metro Manila, Regions III (Central Luzon) and Region IV-A (Calabarzon).

The program, which is usually activated during times of crisis, is targeting to benefit 100 workers each in Marikina City, Quezon City, Pasig City and Taguig City and Pateros town.

It also intends to reach out to some 50 workers each in the cities of Caloocan, Malabon, Manda-luyong, Muntinlupa, Navotas, San Juan and Valenzuela.

The program will be aiming, too, to assist 200 affected workers in Bulacan, and another 100 in Pampanga.

In the Calabarzon area (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon provinces), it seeks to help 150 affected workers in Cavite and another 100 in Rizal.

Deluge of donations

If there is one thing that it still going right for the 500,000 families displaced by tropical storm Ondoy’s massive floods, it is the flowing of aid from the international community.

As of October 5, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) reported also on Tuesday, foreign aid for the Ondoy victims had reached $13.22 million, or about P635 million.

Department spokesman Eduardo Malaya said that of the amount, $7.33 million came from the country’s bilateral partners, $3.64 million from multilateral or regional organizations, $283,351 from international organizations and $150,000 from foreign nongovernment organizations.

Donations from Filipino communities abroad amounted to $5,820, while Philippine embassies and consulates general pitched in $7,802. Private individuals abroad also poured in $64,582.

“Our role is to facilitate the transmission of this assistance,” said Franklin Ebdalin, undersecretary for administration. He added that the relief assistance from abroad was then coursed by the department to the Department of Social Welfare and Development, National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) and the Philippine National Red Cross.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has established “Task Force Ondoy,” headed by Assistant Secretary Catalino Dilem Jr. of the Office of Personnel and Administrative Services. The task force has created a one-stop shop processing center in various areas abroad where donations, whether cash or in kind, may be sent.

Filipino owners of freight companies abroad, as well as other volunteers, also stepped in by helping transport relief items to Manila, particularly those based in the US, China, Brunei and the Middle East.

On top of the cash and relief items, international donors have also provided volunteers who would assist in the assessment of damage.

Local and foreign donations, meanwhile, continued to come in to the country in the aftermath of the devastation wrought by Ondoy.

ADB grant

The government received also on Tuesday a grant of $3 million from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Haruhiko Kuroda, ADB president, pledged the amount in a letter of condolence and sympathy to President Gloria Arroyo.

ADB said that the telegraphic transfer was sent directly to the Department of Finance, which in turn forwarded the cash to the Bureau of Treasury for disbursement to government agencies in charge of relief operations.

International nongovernment organizations are delivering close to $6 million (P278 million) to help abate impacts felt by some 82,000 families displaced by Ondoy.

The amount, which reflects the funding allocation of Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), CARE, Save the Children, World Vision, Action Against Hunger (ACF), Plan International, Christian Aid and Oxfam, is poised to increase in the coming days as other organizations confirm funding commitments.

“Even as there has been support from the public and private sectors for the victims of Ondoy, this might only be enough to tide victims over as they stay in evacuation centers in terms of their food needs. They do have other pressing needs which will affect how fast they recover from this disaster,” Oxfam spokesman Kalayaan Pulido-Constantino said in a statement.

From the government of Jordan, 10 tons of relief goods were received Monday by the kingdom’s honorary consul in the Philippines, Michael Alexander Ang, and Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro.

Concert for victims

Also joining the rehabilitation efforts for Ondoy’s victims was opposition Sen. Francis Escudero, who will lead the country’s top bands in a major fundraising effort for the benefit of the victims, the Bagong Sigla Concert on Friday, simultaneously in the cities of Manila, Dagupan, Iloilo and Davao.

Originally conceived as a free concert incidentally scheduled a day before the senator’s birthday, Bagong Sigla has been turned into a musical event for the hundreds of victims and the millions rendered homeless not only by Ondoy but also Typhoon Pepeng.

To gain admission to the concert venue, guests are requested to bring some canned goods, a pack of rice, dry and usable clothing, bottled water or medicines, or simply donate a minimum of one peso at the concert gates for the Bagong Sigla fund drive.

The Manila concert to be held at Liwasang Ullalim at the Cultural Center Complex will feature Miguel Escueta, the Chicosci and Bamboo. Local bands will be the featured front acts in the three other urban centers with Imago in Dagupan at the CSI Stadia, Cueshe in Iloilo and SpongeCola in Davao at the Damosa Market Basket parking lot.

“Sugod! Kilos!, Tayo ang Bagong Sigla,” according to a statement, underscores Escudero’s call for a united front.

Escudero also on Tuesday said that local government units should be given full discretion in spending calamity funds in their areas to allow them to respond quickly to disasters and other emergencies.

“But I will make sure that local officials are made accountable for any abuses in the use of the fund,” the 39-year-old lawmaker told a forum with 100 local government officials at the Asian Institute of Management in Makati City.

‘Bayanihan’ spirit

In times of calamities, the bayanihan (sense of community) spirit is still alive, even among local government units.

Acting Secretary Melchor Rosales of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) also on Tuesday cited the provinces, cities and municipalities all over the country unaffected by Ondoy and Pepeng for coming to the rescue of local governments in calamity areas.

Among those that gave financial assistance or relief goods were the Aklan Provincial Government (P500,000, coursed through the League of Provinces of the Philippines); Lucban, Quezon, for Marikina City; Quezon province for Tanay, Rizal; Iloilo City (P500,000 each for Rizal and Bulacan provinces); Surigao del Sur (P300,000 coursed through the Department of Social Welfare and Development); Butuan City (P200,000 each for Marikina City, Pasig City, Antipolo City and Cainta town, coursed through the League of Cities of the Philippines).

Others like Oriental Mindoro donated 100 sacks of rice to the province of Rizal; the Cabanatuan City government pledged to provide relief packages and to deploy heavy equipment to Metro Manila; the Mabalacat municipal government mobilized engineering equipment for the cleanup of Metro Manila; and Batangas City pledged to extend financial support to concerned local government units.

More financial aid

The Philippine government could still get additional assistance from other countries the moment the United Nations formally sends out the international humanitarian appeal earlier made by Defense Secretary Teodoro for the victims of Ondoy.

According to Teodoro the preparation for the flash appeal is already completed and the UN will be flashing it today.

The National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), in its latest bulletin, said that the estimated damage from Ondoy is now pegged at P9,767,079,482—P3,412,410,529 on infrastructure and P6,354,668,953 on agriculture.

About 38,943 houses were damaged with 16,094 totally and 22,849 partially damaged.

The number of affected individuals stands at 3,929,030, or about 805,770 families mostly from Region II, Region IV-A and Metro Manila.

The number of casualties remains at 339 persons with a total of 295 dead, five injured and 39 missing.

Besides the government’s assistance, the victims are also getting assistance from various nongovernment organizations and from Australia, Japan, the United States and the Czech Republic, among other countries. –Llanesca T. Panti, Bernice Camille V. Bauzon, Jun Marcos Tadios, Jefferson Antiporda, Angelo S. Samonte And Sammy Martin, Manila Times