Lacson taps private sector’s help in typhoon rehab

MANILA, Philippines - Rehabilitation czar Panfilo Lacson will invite the private sector to participate in the reconstruction of typhoon-devastated Eastern Visayas.

Speaking at the Kapihan sa Manila Hotel, Lacson said he would come up with a list of assistance that companies, foundations or non-governmental organizations could provide to help in the rehabilitation.

“It will be like a ‘bridal registry’,” he said. 

“The rehabilitation will be local government-specific. They can adopt but the adoption here is either geographical or sectoral. A corporation can take care of school buildings and that’s sectoral.” 

Bridal registry is a system where engaged couples make a list of their gift preferences from which their wedding guests could choose.

Lacson plans to adopt the rehabilitation model used in the reconstruction of Aceh province in Indonesia after the tsunami devastation in 2004.

He had met with visiting Indonesian Senior Minister Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, the man who spearheaded Aceh’s rehabilitation, who shared his expertise and experience in designing a recovery plan.

Lacson said he has seen the rehabilitation plan that the National Economic and Development Authority had presented to the Cabinet.   

“The government could not do it alone,” he said.

“There will be problems that we may encounter along the way if it’s purely government efforts. And we all know about the bureaucratic red tape and the paralysis of some departments. We may not accomplish anything or if we have accomplishments, that will be achieved late.” 

The P130 billion that the Department of Budget and Management had estimated for reconstruction is not enough, he added.

Lacson said situations in Aceh and in Easter Visayas are similar, except that Mangkusubroto was given “near absolute authority,” while he will only serve as a “coordinator“ or “manager.”

“What was given to me is a memorandum order,” he said. 

“I’m not offering excuses because there’s no room for failure. I’ll do whatever I can to really rehabilitate. But a memorandum order has no legal basis. An executive order, at least, has a legal backing.”

However, he has been receiving “maximum support from stakeholders,” he added.

Lacson said his worst nightmare now is when another calamity hits another part of the globe and foreign donors would leave.

“It would  be very difficult for us to fill the vacuum,” he said.

Lacson said his other nightmare is when the government fails to transform the affected areas “from an old normal to a new normal.”

“Meaning the old normal, or before the devastation, where the structural designs were mediocre and when a typhoon of slightly lesser or the same magnitude comes, all the structures that we’ll build will collapse,” he said.

Lacson said the “new normal”  pertains to a “safer and better” community.

“One level up is good enough,” he said. 

“We’re aspiring to have a new normal, to transform the areas into safer (environment), with livelihood opportunities.” 

Lacson said he is looking forward to a rehabilitation plan of a private sector group proposing to “adopt” Guiuan in Eastern Samar.

“I am adhering to a policy of inclusion,” he said, “meaning all offers of support are most welcome.”

Lacson said among the salient features being eyed for the rehabilitation plans are the 40-meter “step back” from the coastline and the four-meter flood-line elevation from the ground.

“Let’s face it, (there’s) climate change,” he said. “Seawater is rising because of the melting of ice in the North Pole so we really have to adjust.”

Lacson said he still has no definite data on the extent of damage that Yolanda had caused.

“It’s still preliminary estimate on the extent of damage,” he said.

“So it’s really better to check directly with the local government units because they are the ones who have the detailed, accurate and updated data.”

Lacson said he is set to meet with some private corporations for a pledging session in January, and full implementation of the rehabilitation might start the following month.

“When we present the bridal registry, they can choose the places that they want to adopt to rebuild, reconstruct and rehabilitate,” he said.

“This will be formalized in a meeting with top corporations that they themselves organized... to have their own assignments.”

Lacson hopes they would have rehabilitated at least 85 percent, if not all, of the Yolanda-battered areas before his team is deactivated by 2016 at the end of the Aquino administration.

“We have no choice but to deactivate on or before June 30 of 2016 because if there is a new administration, it depends on its appreciation of the new leadership how to go about continuing the rehabilitation,” he said.

Roxas happy with Lacson

Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II has three reasons for being enthusiastic about Lacson’s appointment as rehabilitation czar.

“First, he has experience in handling a national agency, as chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP). Second, he has a national perspective because he served as senator so he knows the law. He no longer has to study the procurement law, he knows the budget law and he knows the supplementary budget,” he said.

Lacson is also known to be a decision maker, Roxas said.