Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. INQUIRER FILES
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Monday urged calamity-hit local government units (LGUs) to access the P5.58 billion financial assistance fund before September 30.
Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. said the LGUs must “take advantage” of the available aid for them to implement necessary recovery measures in areas within their jurisdictions that are still recovering from Severe Tropical Storm Florita and the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that shook Northern Luzon in July.
“This financial assistance for our LGUs is intended for them to recover from any disaster-incurred damages within their area. This is the government’s way to ensure that immediate assistance is extended to them,” he said in a statement.
All LGUs wishing to use the Local Government Support Fund-Financial Assistance (LGSF-FA) should file their Special Budget Requests – signed by the local chief executive with attached supporting documents – until September 30, according to the DILG chief.
Abalos also said that any requests submitted beyond the prescribed deadline shall be returned to the requesting LGU without any action, as the DILG will endorse all requests to the Department of Budget and Management after September 30.
It is up to the DILG to determine how much assistance each eligible LGU will receive “based on the proportionate amount of damage,” Abalos explained.
He added that the department would rely on the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council’s situation report and the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Disaster Response Operations Monitoring and Information Center’s Disaster Response Operations Monitoring and Information Center’s data.
He also noted that the LGUs must prioritize projects targeted at “disaster response, rehabilitation, and recovery.”
“We call on our mayors and governors to focus the allocation and utilization of the LGSF-FA on rehabilitation, reconstruction, and rebuilding programs in order to lead their localities to sustainable recovery. We request our LGUs to use this fund for projects that will surely aid the recovery of their respective localities,” he pushed. — Irish Lorraine Perez, trainee
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