PH needs P41B for first phase of ‘Yolanda’ rehabilitation

Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma (Photo from https://pcoo.gov.ph/)

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine government will be needing close to P41 billion to start the first phase of the rehabilitation in areas ravaged by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan), said Presidential Communications Secretary Sonny  Coloma.

Coloma said the initial estimate of P38.8 billion rose to P40.9 billion because expenditures in rebuilding government buildings, police stations, and public markets were included.

The amount, according to Coloma, was the initial fund for critical immediate actions agreed by Cabinet secretaries and approved by President Benigno Aquino on Friday.

Of the said amount, Coloma said P27.4 billion will be used for housing and building public infrastructures; P4.9 billion for job generation, fishery and agricultural support; P4.4 billion in constructing local facilities and P3.6 billion for healthcare assistance and education.

He said that the said amount is just an initial budget because the process of rehabilitation normally takes a long time.

“The budget for the second phase will be discussed after we conduct our post-Yolanda assessment,” Coloma said.

He said the initial fund to be used will be from the supplemental budget and the remaining calamity fund from 2013.

However, Coloma said, the remaining funds will still be insufficient.

“We are now preparing for the necessary provisions on where to get additional funds’” Coloma said.

The critical immediate actions, he said, will be undertaken until the end of the year or during the first six months of 2014.

Coloma cleared that the rehabilitation effort in the Visayas is a continuing process and can last beyond 2014.

Aside from the Yolanda victims, the government will also assist in the rehabilitation and recovery of quake-hit Bohol and the victims of the Zamboanga City siege.

He said the government plans to borrow from multilateral and international agencies.

The Cabinet meeting on Fiday, according to Coloma, also focused on providing livelihood to the dispalced families of the successive calamities that ripped the Visayas.