Big part of budget for ‘Yolanda’ areas held in abeyance by Office of the President

SIX months after Supertyphoon Yolanda hit the Central Visayas, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) admitted that a big part of the budget allotted to victims and survivors has not yet been released.

DBM Undersecretary Luz Cantor told lawmakers on Wednesday that the fund release is pending approval by the Office of the President (OP).

During the joint oversight committee on public-expenditure hearing, Cantor said only P4 billion of the P100-billion fund allotment has been spent for areas devastated by Yolanda.

The 2014 budget includes a P20-billion rehabilitation fund for areas devastated by the super typhoon and P80 billion in the unprogrammed fund to serve as “standby fund.”

Cantor said the DBM is “set to release” P517 million for rescue operation, P1 billion for 2,800 classrooms and P912 million for core shelter.

But Cantor told lawmakers that the agency could not give the go-signal for the fund release as the OP has yet to give its nod.

Likewise, Cantor said the OP explained President Aquino is awaiting completion of a post-disaster needs assessment (PDNA) report that, in turn, will be the basis of a master plan.

Earlier, the Office of the Presidential Adviser for Rehabilitation and Recovery (OPARR) admitted in a Senate hearing last week that the national government has yet to come up with a “final, official plan” for rehabilitation, even as six months have already lapsed since the disaster.

In the said hearing, OPARR head and former Sen. Panfilo Lacson said that the delay in the creation of the rehabilitation master plan is largely caused by the failure of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) to submit a final PDNA.

Also during the hearing, National Housing Authority (NHA) General Manager Chito Cruz revealed that only 50 out of 150,000 housing units have been turned over to the victims.

He said that NHA is set to construct 220,000 housing units until 2016.

The typhoon that killed 6,200 people also destroyed 1.1 million houses, rendering 4 million survivors homeless in the Visayas.

Dismay

Also on Wednesday, Sen. Francis Escudero, co-chairman of the joint panel, expressed frustration over the failure of some government agencies to act to reconstruct areas hit by Yolanda despite the approval of a multibillion-peso post-disaster funding by Congress months ago to rehabilitate communities leveled by the monster calamity.

Escudero noted the lack of sense of urgency among executive agencies tasked to put together a massive rehabilitation program for provinces devastated by Yolanda as well as other disasters.

“We have fast-tracked the appropriation of funds for reconstruction and rehabilitation specifically to immediately address the needs of the affected families and communities and yet up until this minute, the NDRRMC cannot even come up with the PDNA,” Escudero said.

“More than a year after the previous disasters, we [still] don’t even know what exactly the affected communities need? It is not about what we can give or what we will to give. This lackadaisical attitude is prolonging the anguish of victims. It is bordering on criminal already,” he added.

According to Escudero, only about 10 percent of the total 2014 post-disaster budget has been used since it was approved last December.

He added Congress has appropriated a total amount of P40 billion for 2014 and only P4 billion has been spent as of date.

“It’s already been four months after the budget has taken effect and yet the blueprint for rehabilitation is still blue or even blank. We are now entering a new cycle of rainy season, and plans and projects will be again halted by the bad weather. How slow can our agencies get?” he asked, showing exasperation. –Jovee Marie N. de la Cruz, Businessmirror