Legarda calls on Senate to monitor calamity fund

CEBU, Philippines - Vice presidential candidate Loren Legarda has called for strict monitoring of the P10 billion calamity fund, warning against its use for political purposes.

Senator Legarda, of the Nacionalista Party-Nationalist People’s Coalition-Laban ng mga Demokratikong Pilipino, said the Senate should monitor the calamity funds for areas greatly affected by power shortage and El Niño weather phenomenon.

"We should keep a watchful eye on how the funds are disbursed," she said in a press statement sent to The Freeman.

She explained that the disbursement of the calamity fund must be published in newspapers for the public to know.

Legarda lamented that the Paglaum Fund for Typhoon Frank in 2008, as well as the Ondoy and Pepeng funds, have not even been fully released by the government.

She said she will summon the Department of Agriculture, Department of Energy, National Grid Corporation of the Philippines and the Department of Health to outline programs using the calamity funds.

Meanwhile, Legarda called for stricter implementation of gun ban in order to curb election-related violence.

Reacting to a report that 2010 will be the most violent election ever, Legarda said that “we should revisit the procedures and plug loopholes for gun ownership in the country.”

"Only with stricter implementation of the absolute gun ban will we end election violence in the country," she said.

Legarda also said the government should study very closely the practice of giving amnesty to illegal gun owners.

"Guns for hire are dime-a-dozen in the Philippines during election season. What is government doing to crack down on the private goons of politicians? Time and again, elections in the Philippines have been a bloody exercise," she added.

The police estimate that there are 1.2 million unlicensed firearms and 1.8 million registered ones in the country.

From 1992 to 2007, a total of 537 people were killed in election-related incidents. – Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon/LPM   (FREEMAN NEWS)