P121.4M disaster fund OK’d

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu Provincial Board yesterday approved the Cebu Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Plan for 2015 amounting to P121.4 million.

The plan covers the activities and programs for disaster prevention, mitigation, preparedness, as well as post-disaster activities.

A total of P84,980,000 or 70-percent of the DRRM fund will be utilized for the disaster preparedness programs while the remaining 30-percent or P36,420,000 serves as the quick response fund.

The allocation is also based on Republic Act 10121 or the Philippine DRRM Act of 2010, which mandates local government units to provide at least five percent of their Internal Revenue Allotment Fund for the DRRM fund.

The programs that involve the land use planning, as well as implementation of the six-year term Provincial Development Framework Plan, get the biggest chunk of the DRRM fund at P15 million.

Activities under this include the conduct of Hazard, Vulnerability, Capacity Assessment, and community-based initiatives such as contingency planning, early warning system understanding, and development of monitoring and evaluation tools with DRR and Climate Change Adaptation processes, among others.

The DRRM Council is mandated to monitor and evaluate the use and disbursement of the LDRRMF based on the LDRRMP as incorporated in the local development plans and annual work and financial plan.

The law also provides that LDRRMC can transfer the said fund to support disaster risk reduction work of other LDRRMCs which are declared under state of calamity, upon the recommendation of the local DRRM officer and approval of the Provincial Board.

The 2015 DRRM fund increased from last year’s the P111 million.

Capitol’s DRRM comprises 75 percent or P445 million of the budget of the Governor’s Office amounting to P587.5 million.

Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III earlier explained that the allocation for bigger budget for PDRRM is in line with his administration’s pursuit to intensify the disaster preparedness in the province, which was hit by two destructive calamities in 2013 - the magnitude 7.2 earthquake on October 15 and typhoon Yolanda on November 8. (FREEMAN)