Gov't to set up funding tracking system for Typhoon Yolanda rehabilitation

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The government will develop mechanisms that allow the public to track the large amount of donations for the recovery and rebuilding efforts in areas ravaged by typhoon Haiyan (locally known as Yolanda), a senior government official said today.

Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery (PARR) Secretary Panfilo Lacson said his office is collaborating with concerned government agencies to keep tab of financial resources for Haiyan-affected population to come up with the Track Recovery System (TRS), which was expected to be set up by May this year.

"This will be helpful not only in providing access to the public but also holding implementing agencies, in and outside government, accountable to demonstrate results on the ground," he said, adding that information on this will be centralized in PARR.

He said PARR recently met with experts from the United Nations- Development Programme (UNDP) and the Government of Indonesia to discuss the database used to track all the financial and physical progress of former post-disaster recovery projects, and to gather recommendations for developing a similar tracking system for post- Haiyan rehabilitation.

According to him, in terms of coverage and period, the TRS will include the financial and physical status update of programs and projects during the recovery phase. It will also include projects of all implementing entities such as the national government, local government units (LGUs), non-government organizations (NGOs) and the private sector.

Haiyan, which hit most parts of the Philippines last November, left at least 6,200 people dead and more than 1,700 others missing.