P5.9-B calamity fund set

MANILA, Philippines - The Aquino administration is ready to release P5.95 billion in calamity funds for disaster response efforts amid torrential rains that caused heavy flooding in various parts of Metro Manila yesterday, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said.

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said the P5.95 billion represents the balance of the government’s P7.5-billion calamity fund for the year.

Early this year, the department released P2.989 billion in Quick Response Funds (QRFs) to concerned departments and agencies.

“These funds are readily available to enable national government agencies to immediately respond to the needs of localities and citizens affected by calamities,” Abad said.

At the same time, the budget chief said the government is ready to pour in more funds, to be taken from savings or from other budgetary allocations, if necessary.

“We are ready to augment these QRFs and the Calamity Fund if needed. We have enough savings that can be realigned to support disaster response and rehabilitation activities,” he said.

According to DBM, the 2012 expenditure program provides P7.5 billion for the Calamity Fund while a balance of P291.775 million has been carried over from the previous year.

On top of the calamity fund, the different departments can also tap their so-called QRFs.

The 2012 budget allocates QRFs separately under the budgets of departments, unlike in previous fiscal years when the QRFs had been tucked into the Calamity Fund.

The government has appropriated a total of P10.489 billion for the Calamity Fund and QRFs, more than double the P5-billion Calamity Fund under the 2011 budget.

NFA to operate 24/7

National Food Authority (NFA) administrator Lito Banayo yesterday ordered warehouse managers in cities and provinces affected by flooding to be open round-the-clock to provide relief workers access to rice stocks.

In a phone interview, Banayo said warehouses in the National Capital Region (NCR), Region 3 (Central Luzon), Region 4 (Calabarzon and Mimaropa), and the province of Pangasinan were to be open 24 hours for the duration of relief operations conducted by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and local government units (LGUs).

“I ordered the operations people to keep their offices open because in times like these, there are needs for immediate withdrawal (from rice stocks). I told them to assist in relief operations,” he said.

Banayo added, based on reports in affected areas, no NFA warehouses have been damaged, even in Bataan, where flooding is especially heavy. 

‘Rolling Kusina’ in evacuation centers

Meanwhile, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. ordered late Monday night the deployment of rolling kitchens to serve food in evacuation centers and areas where people are stranded.

Belmonte asked Ang Kasangga party-list Rep. Teodorico Haresco – whose party-list group initiated the Rolling Kusina two months ago at the House of Representatives – to deploy the mobile soup kitchens.

At least three units have been sent to different evacuation centers in Quezon City and the eastern part of Metro Manila, according to the lawmaker’s staff.

Haresco, a member of the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on National Disaster Risk and Relief Management, said the Rolling Kusina is originally a livelihood project but can be immediately utilized in calamities by local government units.

“Ang Kasangga is answering the call of the President and the Speaker for unified action for the helpless and the poor in affected areas,” the lawmaker said, as he cited Belmonte’s foresight in preparing for the torrential rains.

The Rolling Kusina is a yellow multicab whose passenger compartment has been converted into a kitchen unit. It is a fully mobile, self-contained food service unit capable of moving to different areas during the day, and there serve food and beverages.

“Typical calamity responses from the public and disaster relief agencies consist of massive contributions of bigas (uncooked rice) and instant noodles, which is sometimes a problem because often, there is no access to clean water or a heating source to cook these items,” Haresco said.

OVP extends relief aid

The Office of the Vice President (OVP) conducted simultaneous relief operations to victims of typhoon “Gener” in Bulacan and Nueva Ecija yesterday.

OVP assistant secretary Rosalie Licauco reported that they distributed relief bags containing instant noodles, corned beef, sardines, tuna, biscuits to affected families in San Miguel and Balagtas in Bulacan as well as in Cabanatuan City in Nueva Ecija.

According to the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, strong winds and flooding caused by Gener ravaged many farmlands in Bulacan and destroyed over P29-million worth of agricultural crops. It also caused the flooding of six villages in Cabanatuan City.

“We will continue to monitor the affected areas and coordinate with the concerned LGUs so that relief assistance may be brought to them immediately,” Binay said.

The OVP has also delivered 3,000 bags of relief goods to the residents of Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro; Calasio, Rosales and Bugallon in Pangasinan; and Abucay, Hermosa, Bagac, Morong in Bataan. – With Czeriza Valencia, Paolo Romero, Jose Rodel Clapano