CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—Northern Mindanao needs P43 billion to get back on its feet following the Dec. 17 disaster at the height of Tropical Storm “Sendong” that killed nearly 2,000 people mostly in the city of Iligan and here.
The figure was an estimate made by the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) in its Strategic Action Plan (SAP).
At least P20 billion of the amount is needed immediately, said Leon Dacanay, Neda director for Northern Mindanao.
Dacanay said the amount was 10 times bigger than the estimated P4.3 billion in destruction and damages that the disaster, aggravated by the effects of logging, wrought on three cities and 26 towns in the region.
Neda, according to Dacanay, recommended a larger amount for rehabilitation because it was necessary to “build back better.”
Neda’s SAP was recently approved by the Regional Development Council and outlined a “comprehensive package” to restore “predisaster living conditions … and implement measures to reduce disaster risks.”
The Neda plan said at least P30 billion of the amount would be used to repair and build new infrastructure mostly in this city and Iligan.
Dacanay said some P20 billion worth of the postdisaster projects are priority, meaning these have to be carried out within the year.
Of the P20 billion, at least P8 billion is already available in the 2012 budget of the national and local governments, said Dacanay.
The government may tap funds from Official Development Assistance (ODA), or grants and loans from foreign governments, to raise P12 billion.
Based on government data, at least 384,000 people suffered varying degrees of losses ranging from destroyed homes to job displacement as a result of the disaster.
“With the widespread human, economic, productive and environmental damages and losses, the capacity and resources of affected communities have to be augmented to hasten the rehabilitation and recovery efforts,” said the Neda SAP.
Dacanay said money would also have to be appropriated for projects that would prevent a similar tragedy.
The Neda SAP found flood warning systems nonexistent in flood-prone areas; watersheds have been deforested; drainage systems are terrifyingly clogged by garbage, silt and settlements; and human communities were built on geologically unstable zones like dry riverbeds, mangroves and sandbars.
In Davao City, the budget proposed by the Regional Development Council of Southern Mindanao for 2013 also covered projects aimed at mitigating effects of calamities.
Under the proposed budget, Southern Mindanao officials want rivers desilted and drainage systems rehabilitated or constructed, especially in flood-prone areas, according to Davao del Norte Gov. Rodolfo del Rosario. Ryan Rosauro with a report from Judy Quiros, Inquirer Mindanao