Senator Pia Cayetano. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Barely a week before the opening of classes, Sen. Pia Cayetano has raised alarm over delays in the release of funds for the rehabilitation of state universities and colleges (SUCs) in the Visayas, which were affected by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” and the 7.2-magnitude quake last year.
Cayetano, chair of the Senate committee on education, arts and culture, on Friday questioned the delayed disbursement of funds for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of disaster-hit schools, which total P1 billion out of the P100 billion Congress had allocated under the 2014 national budget for that purpose.
“The fund allotted for the reconstruction of SUCs is P1 billion, which is not even one percent of the total rehabilitation budget. But what’s holding up its release, considering that the school year is just about to start?” Cayetano said in a statement.
The lawmaker issued the statement after Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said the government had already released P32.2 billion for the rehabilitation efforts in the country’s disaster-stricken areas, with rebuilding still the government’s top priority.
“Over P100 billion was allocated by Congress under the 2014 national budget to rehabilitate disaster-hit areas, aside from a P14.6-billion supplemental budget. And yet, according to the DBM (Department of Budget and Management), only P32.2 billion had actually been released,” Cayetano said.
“I understand that plans and budget proposals for rehabilitation have to be reviewed. But summer has come and is almost gone, still we have yet to see the funds released to our SUCs,” she added.
There are 26 SUCs awaiting word on their fund requests to DBM totaling some P826.5 million, said Cayetano, citing figures from the Commission on Higher Education. Seven others are set for a second round of assessment by engineers from the Department of Public Works and Highways, and 18 have yet to be assessed for reconstruction needs.
“In calamity-stricken areas, our priority for the youth is to encourage them to resume their schooling. This will greatly help in their rehabilitation and recovery,” Cayetano said.
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