NDRRMC insists calamity funds are being utilized

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) on Tuesday insisted that the calamity funds for 2020 and this year have been and were still being utilized in efforts to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The NDRRM fund has been used and is still being used according to its specified purposes, including supporting the national effort to address the COVID-19 pandemic,” Ricardo Jalad, executive director of the NDRRMC and administrator of the Office of Civil Defense, said in a letter to the Inquirer.

2020 fund depleted

He noted that the 2020 fund had essentially been depleted.

But he pointed out that the 2021 calamity fund could not be totally used before midyear since the NDRRMC was still preparing for emergencies that might come during the rainy season.

Jalad explained that the annual NDRRM fund, or calamity fund, was intended to support disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) efforts on prevention and mitigation, preparedness, response as well as recovery and rehabilitation.

Insufficient

Jalad said the total calamity fund for 2020 was originally P16 billion, out of which P3.5 billion was set aside for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Marawi City, P5 billion for earthquake repair damage in the Davao and Soccsksargen region; and P7.5 billion as regular DRRM fund.

He said the regular calamity fund for 2020 proved to be insufficient at the onset of the pandemic, prompting the NDRRMC to seek additional funding of P6.7 billion, which brought the total calamity fund in 2020 to P22.795 billion.

The 2021 NDRRM fund, on the other hand, had a total allocation of P20 billion, of which P5 billion has been allotted for Marawi’s continued rehabilitation and reconstruction and P13 billion for the regular DRRM fund, Jalad said. INQ