City readies P10M more for yearend calamities

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu City government has allocated an additional P10 million for calamity-related emergencies in the remaining days of the year.

The Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council believed the remaining P1.4 million Quick Response Fund may not be enough in the event a calamity strikes. The original budget was P68 million.

“The available fund for QRF is certainly very low compared to the expected services or any form of assistance that the city would extend to the victims during emergency situations or calamities,” said Councilor David Tumulak, chairman of CCDRRMC.

“Based on past experiences, many untoward incidents, calamities or disasters, both man-made and natural, happened towards the end of the year, more especially during the month of December...,” he added.

The money used to augment the QRF came from funds for Disaster Preparedness and Mitigation, which has an available balance of P17.2 million. This amount is broken down into P10.83 million (from P28.5 million) for Public Safety and DRRM base services; and P6.33 million (from P20.24 million) for DRRM administrations and operations.

 Section 4 of the General Provisions of the 2014 Annual Budget Ordinance of the City of Cebu, provides that the use of savings and augmentation shall be available exclusively for the specific purpose for which they have been appropriated and that augmentation of any department, office of agency shall be made only after prior authority and approval of the council. This provision is in consonance with Section 336 of the Local Government Code.  (FREEMAN)