Calamity fund wiped out – DBM

MANILA, Philippines - The national government has used up the entire P7.5- billion calamity fund in this year’s General Appropriations Act, and the amount did not even cover the disasters that hit the country this year.

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad told the Senate during yesterday’s budget hearing of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) that the total relief requirements for the affected areas in Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental after Typhoon Pablo hit the country at the end of 2012 already reached P11 billion.

In the past three months alone, the country was hit by two devastating typhoons, Labuyo and Santi, the siege in Zamboanga City and the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that shook the Visayas region.

According to Abad, the initial estimate for the funds needed to address the affected areas in Zamboanga City alone is already at P3.89 billion and believes the figure would still go up.

For Typhoon Pablo and the Zamboanga siege alone, Abad said the entire P7.5 billion calamity fund, as well as the P1 billion contingency fund “have already been wiped out.”

In the areas hit by the earthquake, Abad said a substantial portion of the financial requirements for the relief operations, clearing of debris and rehabilitation would carry over to 2014.

“Very likely the bigger requirement especially for the rehabilitation of infrastructure may likely carry over to the next year so that by next year we would have fully replenished both the calamity fund as well as the contingency fund,” Abad said.

All used up

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) also said it has so far spent P1.76 billion of the latest total P2.2 billion in calamity funds for this year.

Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman, however, gave assurance additional funds will be released by the DBM to fund ongoing disaster response efforts in calamity-hit areas, particularly in the tremor hit areas in Central Visayas.

The total calamity fund of the DSWD is composed of the P662.5 million Quick Response Fund (QRF) for 2013 and additional releases from the DBM.

As of Oct. 15, 2013, the total amount of P1.76 billion has been obligated to address the needs of disaster victims broken down as : financial assistance for P2.1 million, medical assistance worth P361,726.90, Emergency Shelter Assistance worth P87.6 million, relief goods P275.5 million, cash-for-work programs P267.7 million, non-food items emergency relief P24.7 million, food-for-work programs P2.38 million, core shelter assistance P19.3 million, modified shelter assistance P228.2 million, transportation assistance P1.2 million, food assistance P2.6 million, relief supply stockpiling P11.7 million, repatriation of deportees from Sabah at P3.4 million, and other costs for the implementation of the different services P9.7 million.

In addition, the amount was also used to assist victims of various typhoons at P449.9 million, P229.06 million for the victims of Zamboanga siege, the Central Visayas earthquake at P113.9 million, and those affected by the Sabah incident at P10.8 million.

Due to the urgent need to download funds to disaster-stricken areas such as Zamboanga City, Central Luzon, and Central Visayas, Soliman said additional QRF is expected to be released subject to existing regulations.

“Rest assured that the government will look for ways to continue to address the needs of families affected by disasters,” Soliman said.

Sources of funds

On the other hand, Abad said the national government could still have some funds available at the end of the year from savings generated in the last quarter.

Another source of funds the DBM is looking at is the proposal of the Senate to realign the remaining P3.18 billion in Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of the senators for this year to the calamity fund.

The Senate has adopted a resolution introduced by Senate President Franklin Drilon urging the President to realign the unused pork barrel funds of senators for 2013 to the calamity fund.

The House of Representatives has also approved a resolution asking President Aquino to use the savings in the 2013 national budget to augment his calamity fund.

While Drilon claimed the remaining PDAF could already be treated as savings as defined by the General Appropriations Act, Abad said the executive branch would rather be prudent and wait for the Supreme Court (SC) to rule on the petition declaring the PDAF as constitutional.  –Rainier Allan Ronda, Paolo Romero