Robredo hits delay in release of Yolanda, Marawi funds

Houses, buildings and mosques in Marawi City are destroyed by the fighting between government troops and members of the Maute group that laid siege to the Lanao del Sur capital. (File photo by JEOFFREY MAITEM / Inquirer Mindanao)

MANILA, Philippines — What has been delaying the distribution of relief funds for survivors of Supertyphoon Yolanda and the Marawi siege?

Vice President Leni Robredo raised the question on Sunday after the Commission on Audit (COA) hit the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) for its poor use of funds for both Marawi and Yolanda survivors.

According to Robredo, who is the leader of the opposition, it should be the government who should lead the proper distribution of funds.

“Ang daming naghihintay ng tulong. Andiyan na iyong tulong, pero bakit hindi napapamahagi?“ Robredo said in “BISErbisyong Leni,” her weekly radio program aired over DZXL. “Ano ba iyong nakakabagal sa paggastos sa pera? … Andiyan ‘yung pera, pero bakit sobra bagal?”

[So many people are waiting for aid. The aid is there, but why hasn’t it been distributed? The money is there, but why is the release taking so long?]

Under the 2018 annual audit report of COA, the OCD had yet to spend P40.98 million of P135.39 million, or 30.3 percent, in donations it had received as aid for the survivors of Yolanda, which hit the country back in November 2013.

Meanwhile, only P10,000 out of the P36.92 million cash donations for the survivors of the Marawi siege had been distributed by the OCD, a year after the war in Mindanao.

READ: COA hits poor use of donated funds for ‘Yolanda,’ Marawi victims

“Kailangan ng paliwanag ng mga nag-handle niyan. Siguro kailangang ipahayag kung ano iyong problema,” she said.

[Those handling the funds have to explain. Maybe there’s a need to explain what the problem is.]

(Editor: Alexander T. Magno)