Recto opposes budget cut for MMDA amid recent flooding

Sen. Ralph Recto (File photo by GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto on Tuesday called on the government not to cut the budget of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to boost its disaster response during incidents of flooding.

Recto’s suggestion came after intense flooding affected many parts of Metro Manila and nearby provinces due to the southwest monsoon and recent typhoons.

“General Danny Lim is doing a great job as chairman. Let us give him more funds to build up a stronger rapid-response unit for disasters,” he said in a statement, commending the MMDA chairman.

“Kung mayroong seaborne units ang MMDA, pwedeng linis-estero at ilog kung tag-araw, na pwedeng maconvert into rescue teams during flooding,” Recto said.

(If the MMDA has seaborne units, it could be used to clean the creeks and rivers during summer, and could be converted into rescue teams during flooding.)

Recto said the government might consider stopping the almost P400 million cut in the proposed 2019 budget for the MMDA, from P3.55 billion in 2018 to P3.16 billion next year.

He also asserted that the Duterte administration’s “Build, build, build” program should include gymnasiums that could also be used as evacuation centers during typhoons.

He said doing so would be “two birds in one stone” since it would resolve both the shortage of sports facilities and better evacuation centers.

Over 17,000 individuals and 4,000 families have been evacuated in Metro Manila due to recent flooding as of Tuesday, according to the latest data from the National Capital Region Police Office. /jpv

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