Lawmakers: Don't cut funds for disaster preparedness

MANILA, Philippines - Funds for disaster preparedness and mitigation should not be sacrificed despite the government’s cost-cutting measures and the high deficit as these are needed to save lives during times of calamity, lawmakers said.

During the consultation on the guidelines of the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction Management Act in Camp Aguinaldo, Sen. Teofisto Guingona III said the government must find resources to ensure that disaster mitigation programs have enough funds.

“If there is anything to scrape on the budget it should not be disaster preparedness. We will have to find the funds for it. There will be no excuse if we do not fund for disaster preparedness,” Guingona, one of the authors of the law, said.

He said the savings from the unprogrammed funds should be re-channeled to the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), the agency tasked to implement disaster response measures.

Under the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction Management Act enacted last May, the OCD shall be given a P1-billion revolving fund to allow it to perform its functions. The inter-agency National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council shall identify the sources of the fund. Thereafter, the OCD funding will come from the national budget, according to the law’s draft implementing rules.

Despite the huge budget shortfall, Muntinlupa Rep. Rodolfo Biazon is confident that Congress would find ways to allot funds for the OCD. “Congress will have to be ready to generate this P1 billion. Remember, this is for life-saving. The aim is to save lives and to provide relief goods,” Biazon said.

The government expects a deficit of P325 billion this year and P290 billion next year. Malacañang has ordered state agencies to implement austerity measures to contain this year’s shortfall, which is equivalent to 3.9 percent of the gross domestic product.

If the government fails to allot P1 billion to the OCD in the succeeding years, the act would add to the list of unfunded laws. At present, the OCD budget is part of the defense department’s outlay. For next year, the proposed budget for OCD is just P90.89 million.

OCD Administrator Benito Ramos said lack of funding could affect their disaster response initiatives. “Definitely, it will have an effect (on our operations). But we will wait for what Congress will give us,” he said.

Guingona said the OCD revolving fund can come from the national budget and the $250 million loan tapped by the Special National Public Reconstruction Commission, which was formed last year in the wake of typhoon Ondoy. He admitted that the OCD funding may have to be reduced if the P1-billion budget is not doable.

“If it is not really possible (to generate P1 billion) then definitely it will have to be reduced. But the main point of the bill is preparing the local communities to prevent accidents and to mitigate their impact,” Guingona said.

Biazon, likewise, cited the need to come up with a system designed to monitor how the OCD funds are used.

“There should be a system of replenishment (of the resources) so we will be ready to respond to the next one (disaster),” he added.