Typhoon-ravaged areas in Bicol first to benefit from budget

Malacanang announced yesterday that it is now facilitating the disbursement of the P10 billion for the relief and rehabilitation of Bicol and other areas devastated by typhoons last year with the signing into law of the national budget last Thursday.

Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr, in a statement, said that the Department of Budget and Management is going over the project listing submitted by the various agencies for the rehabilitation of the affected areas.

The P10 billion rehabilitation fund was approved by Congress under the so-called Calamity Assistance and Relief Effort (CARE) provision in the 2007 budget.

It was included in the budget in response to the urgent need by Bicol’s six provinces to repair and restore more than P100 billion worth of public works, housing, farm and employment losses brought about by typhoons "Milenyo," "Paeng," "Reming" and "Seniang."

Several members of Congress have been calling for the immediate release of the funds to the affected areas in order to speed up their recovery from the devastation.

The scope of the CARE funding is not limited to Bicol but to all other areas that were affected by the typhoons based on the recommendations of the National Disaster Coordinating Council.

"We have been waiting for this budget authority so now that it’s here we are wasting no time in making the releases," Andaya said.

Andaya clarified that the infrastructure projects to be covered by the CARE funds are exempted from the ban on public works during the election period as it involves only the restoration of damaged structures.

"It is a permissible activity under our election laws provided that the scope of work is limited to the restoration or replacement of damaged infrastructure," he said.

Nevertheless, Andaya said that the DBM would require the imple-menting agencies to notify the Commission of Elections about the details of the CARE-funded activities to ensure compliance with the Omnibus Election Code.

The 2007 General Appropriations Act breaks down the P10 billion CARE fund as follows:

Department of Agriculture, for assistance to farmers, P500 million;  National Irrigation Administration, for irrigation repair, P500 million ; Department of Agrarian Reform, for aid to agrarian reform communities,  P500 million;  National Electrification Administration, for repair of  power lines, P500 million;  state universities and colleges, for repair of college buildings, P400 million; Department of Health, for repair of hospitals, P300 million; Department of Public Works and Highways, P2 billion; Department of Social Welfare and Development, P750 million; National Housing Authority, for relocation sites and housing construction,  P750 million; local government units, for repair of rural health units and other rehabilitation programs, P500 million; Department of National Defense-Office of Civil Defense, for disaster relief, P1.3 billion; and Department of Education, for the repair of school buildings, P2 billion. – Marvin Sy