P1.3-billion calamity fund ready

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad. INQUIRER file photo

The national government, lawmakers, Albay province and Cebu City are extending financial aid to the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan and other areas devastated by Tropical Storm “Sendong.”

At least a P1.3-billion calamity fund “will be released immediately” to help ease the plight of the victims of the storm, Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad said Monday.

“We are ensuring the quick release of these funds so that victims will receive swift and proper assistance,” Abad said in a statement.

He said that with the fund, the government “is generously equipped” to mobilize and support disaster relief efforts in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan as well as other affected areas.

The budget secretary said that separate quick-response funds (QRF) were “adequately supporting” the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of National Defense and Department of Education in their efforts to provide direct and immediate support to storm-stricken areas.

“We also have the local government support fund shares of all affected local government units, for whom President Aquino will (on Tuesday) provide special allotment release orders and notices of allocation,” Abad said.

He said that if additional disaster-response funds were required, the national government had sufficient reserves to augment the calamity fund and QRFs.

Salary deduction

In the House of Representatives, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. required each of the 285 members of the chamber to donate at least P20,000 of their salaries to victims of the storm.

In a press briefing, Belmonte said House Resolution No. 2017 was already being circulated to House members for signatures to allow the donation.

Belmonte and An Waray Representative Bem Noel said they were donating P100,000 each.

Alagad Representative Rodante Marcoleta said he was donating his one month salary on top of the 25 sacks of rice he had given to victims in Cagayan de Oro, which he coursed through Abante Mindanao Representative Maximo Rodriguez.

The Ako Bicol (AKB) party-list group said it would donate P250,000 to the victims in Cagayan de Oro.

“The situation needs an immediate national response. We have decided to give our all-out efforts, not just as an institution but as individuals,” Belmonte said.

He said he would present the resolution in plenary  when the session resumes in January. “I am sure it will be unanimously endorsed by the entire membership. But we will now advance the amount to be given today (Monday) or tomorrow (Tuesday),” he added.

P1M from pork

Belmonte also urged congressmen to give P1 million each from their respective Priority Development Assistance Funds, also known as pork barrel, to be used in the rehabilitation of public infrastructure in the devastated areas.

“I am confident our colleagues will support this move,” Belmonte said.

Belmonte said the House would also give P1 million to the DSWD and half a million pesos each to the major television networks for their respective donation drives to aid victims of the calamity.

Cebu City donation

The Cebu City government will provide up to P5 million in financial assistance.

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama said he would ask the Cebu City council to allocate between P3 million and P5 million, which would be shared by Cagayan de Oro, Iligan and other areas affected by Sendong.

Rama said the Cebu City budget office had certified the availability of P11 million in unused calamity funds.

Mobile morgue

He said the city would be sending its mobile morgue to Cagayan de Oro and Iligan to help identify and tag bodies fished out from the waters of neighboring provinces.

In Legazpi City, Governor Joey Salceda said Albay province donated P1 million to  Cagayan de Oro and Iligan on Monday.

He said the cash assistance was drawn from the province’s calamity fund. Each city will get P500,000.

Albay’s gratitude

Salceda, in a text message, said “more than the amount which is modest, the Albay Sendong Aid Mission brings with it the spirit of solidarity and sense of kinship between our peoples,” a form of support which he said was “so critical to help them overcome this distressing period.”

He said the aid was also an expression of Albay’s gratitude to the local government units and the national government for the assistance they gave to Albay when it was hit by past disasters.

A team from the provincial legislative board and the provincial disaster risk reduction and management council is scheduled to leave for the two cities today to consult with local officials and communities on how Albay could further help assistance efforts.

Relief goods

Relief goods worth more than P17 million have been transported to Northern Mindanao to assist families in the devastated areas of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan, according to the DSWD.

The DSWD is still welcoming donations. Clothes, mats, blankets and bottled water are among the preferred items. Volunteers are also needed in the department’s Cagayan de Oro office on Fr. Masterson Avenue, Upper Carmen, Cagayan de Oro City, for the repacking of relief goods.

A total of P12.724 million worth of relief goods from the UN World Food Program, Maynilad and the Philippine  Red Cross were brought to the DSWD office on Sunday.

Another P4.35 million worth of relief assistance from the DSWD was also brought to its Northern Mindanao office as standby relief sources.

Earlier, the DSWD said it had prepositioned P10.7 million in standby funds and P57.69 million worth of relief supplies for Sendong victims.

Help is also coming from the Department of Transportation and Communications.

In a statement, Transportation Secretary Manuel Roxas II said he ordered the release of P1 million for the victims of the typhoon. Reports from Ronnel W. Domingo, Cynthia D. Balana, Leila Salaverria, and Paolo Montecillo in Manila; Mar S. Arguelles, Inquirer Southern Luzon; and Edison delos Angeles, Inquirer Visayas