Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez. Photo from congress.gov.ph
MANILA, Philippines — Where did the $500 million World Bank loan supposedly for relief and rehabilitation efforts in areas devastated by Tropical Storm Sendong go?
This was Cagayan de Oro Representative Rufus Rodriguez’s query during the budget deliberations for the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) at the plenary.
He was referring to the World Bank’s Catastrophe Deferred Drawdown Option which should have gone to typhoon-ravaged Iligan and Cagayan de Oro.
The two areas were badly hit by Typhoon Sendong back in December 2011 and Rodriguez asked why his district has not benefited from the loan when it has been nine months after the devastation.
When the agency said that they have alloted a P7 billion for the rehabilitation efforts, the Cagayan de Oro lawmaker pointed out that the said fund was taken from the Department of Public Works and Highways’ (DPWH) savings and was not the funding he was asking about.
NEDA’s reason that they have yet to finish crafting a list of projects which would be funded by the said loan further irked the lawmaker who lambasted the length of time it was taking the agency to provide the relief and rehabilitation assistance to areas affected by Typhoon Sendong. He added that he has yet to see the said list of projects.