Aquino urged to seek debt relief to free funds for ‘Yolanda’

DAVAO CITY—Militant lawmakers are asking Malacañang to negotiate a payment moratorium with the country’s debtors, saying it would free up funds that could be used for a massive program to rehabilitate areas devastated by Supertyphoon “Yolanda.”

Bayan Muna Representatives Neri Colmenares and Carlos Zarate said in a joint media statement that the Aquino administration should “ask for debt moratorium at the minimum or a debt write off at the maximum.”

“So that the country would be given ample funds and time to rehabilitate,” they said.

They said this year alone, total foreign borrowings hit P2 trillion and the budget for debt servicing is P333.9 billion.

“We should review the national budget and see if we can free more funds intended for debt servicing so that these can be rechanneled to the rehabilitation of devastated areas,” they said.

“Cases in point are the debt management fund which is P85.18 billion and the international commitments fund which is P4.8 billion,” Colmenares said.

He said from his calculation, the national government would be able to raise P125 billion by suspending its foreign debt payment, which “would go a long way in the long term rehabilitation of areas affected by calamities.”

Colmenares said the savings would be so huge that it would not only benefit Yolanda victims but also those still suffering in the aftermath of the Bohol earthquake and Typhoon Pablo in Mindanao.

“We ask foreign and local banks to write off the interest payment of P333.9 billion for the year and to declare a moratorium on principal payments,” said the lawmakers.

“The international community should understand that we need all the funds we have to help our countrymen rise up as soon as possible and we hope that other countries would support our call,” Colmenares said.

Zarate said he supports the establishment of a rehabilitation fund as proposed by leaders of the Senate but it should be scrutinized to ensure it does not become just another source of pork barrel.

He said rehabilitation efforts are so huge that they needed at least P100 billion in funds. Allan Nawal, Inquirer Mindanao