P133M 2016 fund for PDRRMO ok’d

CEBU, Philippines - The Provincial Development Council (PDC) approved the proposed budget of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) for next year amounting to P133 million, higher than this year’s P121 million.

 Governor Hilario Davide III said the PDRRMO budget is part of the executive’s proposed 2016 spending plan which will be submitted to the Provincial Board today for its deliberation and approval.

Of the P133 million, at least P27 million was set aside for insurance premiums of buildings, crops and volunteers for Cebu Province as well as risk insurance of the World Bank.

Another P25 million of the total PDRRM fund is allocated for prevention and mitigation.

 PDRRMO head Baltazar Tribunalo Jr. said the bulk of the P25 million will be spent for the mainstreaming of DRR in the land use plan of the LGUs. The budget also covers the construction and repair or rehabilitation of dams and embankments or impounding.

 Other allocations in the disaster fund include procurement of disaster equipment for disaster response activities at P17.5 million and rehabilitation and recovery at P10 million.

The province’s quick response fund (QRF), on the other hand, is P39.9 million, representing 30 percent of the total PDRRM fund.

The disaster law provides that at least 70 percent of the total amount of DRRM fund would be earmarked for disaster preparedness programs, while the remaining 30 percent would be allocated as quick response fund.

As of this month, the PDRRMO has around P47 million unexpended budget, including the P20 million plus unexpended balance in the years 2013 and 2014.

 Tribunalo said during the PDC meeting last week that the unexpended fund is projected to lessen to around P15 million.   The PDC suggested to the disaster office to utilize the amount to augment its draining QRF, which only has P2 million left due to the interventions extended by the Capitol to the El Niño-affected farmers and areas in the province.

PDRRMO pushed for the increase of the amount to fund the creation of the province’s contingency plan and mitigation measures, especially for the prevailing El Niño phenomenon which was predicted by PAGASA to persist until second quarter of next year.  (FREEMAN)