3-stage ‘Yolanda’ recovery plan approved; no total cost yet

PRESIDENT Aquino, after a marathon meeting with his Cabinet on Wednesday, approved in principle a three-stage recovery plan for several provinces devastated by Supertyphoon Yolanda (international code name Haiyan).

Palace Spokesman Edwin Lacierda reported that Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan presented the Yolanda Recovery and Rehabilitation Plan—as drafted by a Cabinet task force—although the final cost has yet to be determined.

“The plan has three phases—to provide immediate assistance to affected areas; expand initiatives and programs in the medium term; and reach full recovery and rehabilitation in the long term,” Lacierda said.

He confirmed that Mr. Aquino has “approved in principle many of the items cited, but asked Balisacan and other pertinent members of the Cabinet for more specific details before providing formal approval.”

Palace officials also deferred disclosing cost estimates to carry out the plan, saying the President wanted a breakdown of the funding requirement. However, they indicated that this plan would most likely be funded by foreign and local sources.

Lacierda said the Cabinet task force that drafted the Yolanda-recovery program would meet with the President again on Friday to “present further refinements to the plan, especially to the immediate actions to be taken.”

“The President’s overarching instructions to the Cabinet was: Dapat gawin, kayang gawin, ngayon na,”’ he added.

This developed as Presidential Communications-Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma disclosed that the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) “Diskwento Caravan”[Discount Caravan]” was deployed in devastated areas “to restart and energize commercial activities in calamity areas where public markets and retail stores were destroyed.”

“Even before Supertyphoon Yolanda struck, this caravan has been going around major cities and towns, offering basic food items and household commodities at the lowest prices. Citizens in communities visited by this caravan bought virtually all of the goods offered for sale,” he said.

While the caravan moves about, Coloma added, “the government continues to provide food packs and essential supplies to families in tents, evacuation centers and temporary shelters.”

As this developed, the House Committee on Appropriations on Wednesday passed a P14.6-billion supplemental budget bill that will fund the rehabilitation of areas hit by successive natural and man-made calamities.
 


Committee Chairman Davao Rep. Isidro Ungab said the House panel approved the House Bill 3423 at the committee level given the urgency of rebuilding of affected areas.

calamities, including, but not limited to, the devastating typhoons Labuyo, Odette, Pablo, Sendong, Santi and Vinta; the siege and unrest in Zamboanga; the 7.2-magnitude earthquake in Bohol; and the recent onslaught of Supertyphoon Yolanda, which severely hit the Central Philippines, including Southern Tagalog and

The measure proposes that the bulk of this budget will come from the remaining P13.5-billion Priority Development Assistance Fund for 2013—more popularly known as “pork” barrel—that the Supreme Court recently declared as unconstitutional.

The Committee on Appropriations, also on Wednesday, approved House Joint Resolution 7 extending the validity of appropriations under the Calamity Fund and Quick Response Fund. This also includes the amount sourced from savings realigned in the current year, as well as all unobligated allotments covering appropriations for maintenance and other operating expenses and capital outlays under Republic Act 10352, or the 2013 General Appropriations Act until December 31, 2014. –Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz, Businessmirror