Noli can’t offer much to avert fiscal crisis

Vice President Noli de Castro is ready to contribute but does not have the money to match the amounts being pledged by big businessmen for a special fund being set up to lessen the impact of the government’s fiscal crisis.

De Castro said "limited" finances prevent him from chipping in P1 million for the "Pera Para sa Pilipinas" fund drive initiated by Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. The fund will be administered by Finance Secretary Juanita Amatong.

"Wala akong labis na pera (I don’t have excess funds)," he said.

De Castro also said he has previous financial commitments to scholars of his Kabayan Noli De Castro Foundation (KNDCF). Some 50 high school and college students benefit from the Vice President’s scholarship program.

De Castro, who did not mention the amount he is ready to contribute, said his office has its own austerity measures, which includes a review of the gasoline consumption of vehicles used by his office.

In another development, De Castro assured representatives of the urban poor in Malabon that the government is prepared to relocate them once the North Railway Project is started this year.

The Vice President, who chairs the Housing and Urban Development and Coordinating Center (HUDCC) and the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC), made the commitment during a pulong bayan (townhall meeting) yesterday with President Arroyo in Cubao, Quezon City.

In the meeting, representatives of so-called "informal settlers" in the areas to be affected by the rail project were consulted regarding possible relocation sites.

De Castro said the residents were in no danger of being made homeless by the project.

"Don’t worry about your relocation. The government already has plans for that," he said.

The groundbreaking for the project, which received a $400-million funding from the Chinese government, has been tentatively set for November 2004.