SC asked to lift TRO on ‘pork’ funds for ‘Yolanda’ victims

A young survivor uses a plastic cover to protect him from rain as he passes by a damaged Boy Scout statue at typhoon ravaged Tacloban city, Leyte province, central Philippines on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2013. AP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – Senator Jose Victor “JV” Ejercito  on Thursday appealed to the Supreme Court to lift the temporary restraining order issued  against the release and use of the remaining Priority Development Assistance Funds (PDAF)  “to make it available as immediate assistance to calamity-stricken areas.”

In Senate Resolution 357 he filed, Ejercito proposed that the remaining 2013 PDAF of senators be coursed through the relief, rescue and rehabilitation operations in areas ravaged by natural and man-made disasters across the country.

He noted that since October, the Philippines had been swathed by typhoon “Santi” in Central Luzon, hit by a magnitude 7.2 earthquake in Bohol and Cebu, involved in a war with armed rebels in Zamboanga City and severely devastated by super typhoon “Yolanda” in Leyte, Samar and other areas in the Visayas region.

Sen. JV Ejercito INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

Although a generous international aid worth P2.585 billion had been extended by 23 countries for “Yolanda” victims, Ejercito said: “There is a necessity for a sufficient amount for the effective relief and rehabilitation of the areas battered by the catastrophic natural calamities.”

Official estimate placed the death toll from typhoon “Yolanda” at 1,833 as of Wednesday (November 13) afternoon and it was expected to further increase. Damage costs to infrastructure and agriculture, meanwhile, was estimated at P296.5-million.

On Tuesday, Ejercito pledged to waive his 2014 PDAF in favor of the calamity victims.

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