House approves MPC's 2-year term extension

CLARK FIELD, Pampanga -- Gov. Lito Lapid thanked members of the House of Representatives yesterday for passing on second reading the proposal to extend the term of the Mt. Pinatubo Commission (MPC) by another two years.

"We are grateful to Congress for understanding the plight of the thousands of the victims of Mt. Pinatubo's eruption who still need continuing assistance from the MPC," Lapid said.

The House passed on second reading House Bill 10717, introduced by Reps. Oscar Rodriguez and Ronald Cosa-lan, chairman of the House committee on government recognition, which would extend MPC's term up to December 2002.

The MPC, established in 1993 to rehabilitate Pinatubo-affected areas in Central Luzon and provide housing and livelihood assistance to hundreds of thousands of displaced folk, was supposed to have folded up in 1998, but former President Ramos extended its term up to December this year.

The approval virtually assured the continued existence of the MPC for another two years, as some 7,000 lahar-affected families are still awaiting permanent resettlement.

While the MPC's P10-billion fund since 1993 has already been used up, MPC executive director Art Sampang said some P287 million reverted to the national treasury by the agency's implementing agencies could be tapped to fund projects in the next two years.

The amount was part of the P13-billion budget of the defunct Presidential Task Force on Mt. Pinatubo, MPC's predecessor.

Under HB 10717, the two-year extension was to "complete the remaining tasks of the MPC, particularly the documentation of 24 resettlement areas, the resettlement of remaining evacuees, revalidation of resettled families to formalize housing award, and completion of the master list beneficiaries and accounting of MPC funds."

While the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee (JCOC) on Mt. Pinatubo has already received a complete accounting of Pinatubo funds as submitted by an inter-agency committee, the Commission on Audit has yet to conduct its own accounting.