Batangas solons file bill on P30-B supplemental budget for Taal victims

A motorcycle rider negotiates a crack on the road after Taal volcano’s recent eruption in Lemery, Batangas province, southern Philippines on Thursday Jan.16, 2020. Taal volcano belched smaller plumes of ash Thursday but shuddered continuously with earthquakes and cracked roads in nearby towns, which were blockaded by police due to fears of a bigger eruption. AP

MANILA, Philippines — Batangas congressmen on Wednesday filed a bill seeking a P30-billion supplemental budget to support victims of Taal Volcano’s eruption.

House Bill No. 5998 was filed by Batangas representatives Vilma Santos-Recto, Elena Milagros Ermita-Buhain, Raneo Abu, Ma. Theresa Collantes, Lianda Bolilia, and Mario Vittorio Marino.

“The bill seeks to appropriate thirty billion pesos to fund the much-needed support to families and communities affected by the eruption of Taal Volcano to include immediate relief to affected individuals and families,” the lawmakers said in the bill’s explanatory note.

Further, the fund would also help “establish resettlement centers, homesites, and townsites for displaced families; provide livelihood and employment opportunities for local residents; construct, repair, rehabilitate, or reconstruct public infrastructure needs in the affected communities; and to adopt and implement other interventions that could expedite the return to normalcy in affected localities.”

The lawmakers sought for the “immediate” passage of the bill.

The bill was filed following President Rodrigo Duterte’s call to expedite the passage of a P30-billion supplemental budget to augment the government’s calamity fund for Taal volcano’s eruption.

House leaders have earlier expressed support towards the President’s call.

Citing the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), the Batangas lawmakers said that 68,439 families or 271,278 Filipinos were affected by the eruption.

In the Calabarzon region, 38,906 families or 148,514 individuals are staying in evacuation centers.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology maintains Alert Level 4 over Taal Volcano.