Aquino to mark ‘Yolanda’ supplemental bill urgent

President Aquino will certify as urgent a P14.6-billion supplemental budget bill that will realign the pork barrel of legislators to relief and rehabilitation projects in calamity-stricken areas, according to Senate President Franklin Drilon.

Drilon said Budget Secretary Florencio Abad had told him the President would issue the certification to ensure the bill’s last-minute passage after the Supreme Court last week struck down pork barrel allocations (officially known as the Priority Development Assistance Fund) as unconstitutional.

“We are working on a very tight timetable as the current General Appropriations Act is going to expire by the end of the year and there are only five weeks left in our legislative calendar. The certification by the President will ensure the immediate passage of this bill,” Drilon said.

Drilon said the Bureau of the Treasury had issued a certification dated Nov. 21 confirming the availability of the funds.

Belmonte, Abad and Drilon met on Friday to discuss the proposed supplemental budget.

Drilon said they had agreed to authorize the executive branch to spend the additional P14.6 billion for 2013 on massive relief and rehabilitation projects for the victims of various calamities that hit the country during the second semester.

Aside from the damage caused by Supertyphoon “Yolanda,” Drilon  mentioned the devastating effects of Typhoons “Santi” and “Labuyo” that hit Luzon, the assault on Zamboanga City, and as well as the 7.2-magnitude earthquake that hit Bohol and Cebu.

In Drilon’s version of the supplemental budget (Senate Bill No. 1938), P3 billion will be allocated to the repair of roads and other infrastructure by the Department of Public Works and Highways; P1.5 billion for the restoration of historical sites; P2.75 billion and P1.25 billion for the Department of Education and state universities and colleges, respectively; P1 billion for the Department of Health, and P1.5 billion for the purchase of relocation sites and the construction of housing units by the National Housing Authority.

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