Higher cash aid for Quinta, Rolly victims eyed

MANILA, Philippines — The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) is mulling over an increase in cash aid for families who lost their houses to Typhoons Quinta and Rolly.

From just P10,000 as emergency shelter assistance for destroyed houses, Office of Civil Defense administrator and NDRRMC executive director Ricardo Jalad said on Sunday it was proposed that the cash aid be raised to P30,000.

Jalad told reporters the current rates of emergency shelter assistance given to typhoon victims were P5,000 for partially damaged houses and P10,000 for completely destroyed houses.

“There was a proposal by a council member in our meeting last Friday to raise the P10,000 to P30,000 and make the P5,000 to P10,000,” he said.

The suggestion would be discussed and most likely pushed in an NDRRMC meeting some time this week.

He assured the public that the P3.6-billion NDRRMC budget or calamity fund would be sufficient to finance the emergency shelter assistance even if it was increased.

In a radio interview, Jalad said the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the National Housing Authority (NHA) were in charge of distributing the emergency shelter assistance to typhoon victims.

The DSWD is handling the aid distribution in the Bicol region while the NHA is responsible for the aid in Mimaropa and Calabarzon.

For additional funds, Jalad said, the agencies can tap into the NDRRMC’s P3.6-billion budget, which can be augmented by the Department of Budget Management with government savings.

During the first Yolanda Commemorative Ride on Sunday, at least P15 million worth of cash and in-kind donations were raised for the families affected by Rolly in the Bicol region.

House Majority Leader and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez and his family, who organized the fundraising drive, would turn over the donations to residents of the storm-battered Bicol this week.

“Waraynons find joy in helping others and today is another celebration of kindness, gratitude and the resiliency of Filipinos. We want to share our blessings and to pay it forward to our fellow Filipinos. We know exactly what the evacuees in Bicol are going through now,” Romualdez said in a statement.