Unspent Yolanda funds could be used for polls – Bongbong

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. expressed concern yesterday that the funds meant for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of areas destroyed by Super Typhoon Yolanda in 2013 could be used by the Aquino administration for the 2016 elections.

Marcos said he had difficulty getting an answer from the Department of Social Welfare and Development on why so much is still unspent two years after Yolanda and how the DSWD uses the funds.

“We all know how much was given by international organizations and that is why we see medicine expiring and other items that weren’t released. What are they waiting for? I don’t understand why this happened,” Marcos said. 

Asked if he sees the funds possibly being used for election purposes, he said, “I guess so. We have seen that a significant amount of funds are being used by the government for the elections.”

Two years after Yolanda hit the Visayas, affected residents still have no permanent homes.

Marcos said the National Housing Authority earlier reported that the government has built 16,000 or fewer than 10 percent of the 205,128 homes supposed to be built for Yolanda survivors.

“They should be ashamed for the continued punishment experienced by the victims of Yolanda who up to now are waiting for help from the government. Two years is too long to keep the people waiting,” he added.

Marcos also said that he would support calls for a Senate inquiry into the utilization of the Yolanda-related funds.

Senate committee on finance chairperson Sen. Loren Legarda earlier raised concern over the P10.28 billion in National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund that remain unspent as of Sept. 30.

On top of this is the P5.458 billion in Quick Response Funds lodged in different agencies that also remain unspent. 

Legarda said with billions in unused funds, there should no longer be homeless victims of Yolanda and other calamities and they should have been served with post-disaster basic needs at the very least.

“There is no reason that relief and rehabilitation programs would be delayed. We cannot allow the approval of funds only to remain idle while many disaster victims and climate refugees live in deplorable conditions. We allocate resources to aid the most needy of our people,” she added.