Towards the end of his remaining six months in office, the outgoing administration of President Rodrigo Duterte faces the massive devastation of the super typhoon “Odette” that hit our country. But the rebuilding from the ruins of “Odette” will fall on the lap of President Duterte’s successor on June 30, 2022.
The latest super typhoon that ripped across the Philippines last Friday wrought so much loss of lives and destruction in public and private facilities and properties. Given the enormity of reconstruction and rehabilitation that must take place to rebuild the lives of the typhoon victims, the President reportedly decided to rush the signing into law of the proposed 2022 General Appropriations Act (GAA) by Monday next week at the earliest.
This was revealed during our Kapihan sa Manila Bay virtual news forum last Wednesday by Sen. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara who shepherded the approval by the 18th Congress of the 2022 GAA bill. As soon as signed into law by the President, Angara cited, the proposed P5.024 trillion of the national budget for next year can immediately provide the initial amounts needed to augment the depleted calamity funds this year.
Angara, who chairs the Senate committee on finance, noted the President’s apparent haste to sign into law the 2022 national budget is to ensure the national government can already access the funds and resources needed at the moment to assist the calamity-stricken areas. Angara disclosed the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office (PLLO) informed him that the signing is tentatively set on Monday Dec. 27.
“The reason, I think it was rushed is because of what happened in typhoon Odette,” Angara mused. “I think the impetus or the reason why the signing of this national budget is for January, entering the new year, there are already funds to spend, especially because calamity funds are very urgent,” Angara explained.
Angara believes the 2022 GAA bill would give the outgoing President flexibility to secure the additional funding needed for the rebuilding of the calamity areas. An administration ally, the senator thanked President Duterte for the swift action done for the “Odette” victims.
The 76-year-old President, accompanied by concerned Cabinet officials, flew to Bohol, Leyte, and in Cebu, then went the next day to Siargao and Dinagat and yesterday to Cebu and Palawan. These provinces were among the worst hit areas during the typhoon. In his pep talks with the “Odette” victims, President Duterte empathized with their plight happening a few days before Christmas.
Speaking with them in Visayan dialect, the President admitted the government has almost used up whatever calamity and contingency funds for this year, which were spent mostly to augment the budgets of the Department of Health (DOH) and other state agencies involved in the campaign to stop the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Amid the latest Omicron variant that threatens the country’s exit from the pandemic, the President admitted his worry over the possible surge anew of COVID-19 infection cases due to “Odette” onslaught.
Many “Odette” victims are currently being temporarily housed in cramped evacuation centers and other makeshift facilities to accommodate them. In Bohol, Governor Arthur Yap could not fathom why the local government units (LGUs) have to worry about strictly complying with rules and regulations of the Commission on Audit (COA) during these times of calamity crisis period. Lest they be charged with COA violations for command responsibility, LGU chief executives must comply with “red tape” requirements in the processing of donations of cash, in-kind goods from bottled water and other relief goods either coming from private donors that must be coursed through the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
Lessons from the previous administration’s experience in the outpouring of international aid for the 2013 victims of the “Yolanda” super typhoon, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III had already ordered the quick and round-the-clock processing of applications for tax and duty exemptions of all foreign and local donations to communities devastated by “Odette.” In response to President Duterte’s directive on expediting relief and rehabilitation efforts in the disaster-hit areas, what do we hear from the DSWD headed by retired Gen. Rolando Bautista? Nothing except about reporting on the number of evacuees in temporary shelters in these calamity areas.
Being Mayor of Davao City for 23 years, President Duterte only knows too well these typical problems of LGU chief executives. This was why, the President placed under a state of calamity the six regions in Visayas and Mindanao where “Odette” left behind a trail of its wreckage in the many provinces, cities and towns it passed through. This should empower all the LGU local executives to tap their local calamity funds and their local annual budget to re-align for their emergency purchases during the calamity period.
In the meantime, the President announced his office has found sources of funds out of certain government projects that could be tapped for now. “I’ve told them (LGU chief executives) that I’m just sweeping the floor to see where I would find the money. I won’t tell you anymore but I have – the money is available now…Just give me a little time,” the President reassured evacuees. He did not identify though what project budgets were realigned.
These are executive decisions that a President must make during crunch times in crisis period. Aspirants wishing to be elected as successor to the Malacañang office of President Duterte would need to do a lot of taking stocks and reality checks of these challenges of pandemic and calamities ahead.
The Filipino resiliency works at best during these crises periods under the stewardship of a good father of the nation. Thus, the next President must have the best interests of the Filipino nation other than competence and leadership qualities.
Merry Christmas to one and all.