House OKs P14.6-B supplemental calamity fund

MANILA, Philippines - The House of Representatives finally approved last night a bill that seeks to appropriate P14.6 billion as supplemental calamity fund that could be used for the rebuilding of typhoon-ravaged communities.

Also last night, the Senate voted 12-0 with one abstention, to approve a joint resolution extending the validity of appropriations of P12-billion unobligated funds under the 2013 budget for one year or until Dec. 31, 2014.

The senators approved the measure that amended Section 63 of the 2013 General Appropriations Act (GAA) that limited the use of the budget until the end of fiscal year 2013.  

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. told reporters before Bill 3423 was put to a vote that he made sure enough members showed up for the voting.

The measure was approved by an overwhelming vote of 213 in favor, with only six against.

Belmonte, Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II, Minority Leader Ronaldo Zamora, and Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab, appropriations committee chairman, are the authors of the measure.

“The approval of the bill is a strong message to typhoon victims that President Aquino and this Congress care for their plight,” Rep. Ben Evardone of Eastern Samar, one of the provinces hit by Super Typhoon Yolanda, said.

Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, a former law dean, said the proposed law on the additional calamity fund “is constitutional.”

“This measure will bring hope to our people in Northern Mindanao, who suffered a lot from Typhoon Sendong,” he said. – With Christina Mendez