P5.95-B calamity fund ready for disaster response, rehab

THE National Government has a balance of P5.950 billion calamity fund that could readily be released for disaster response and rehabilitation efforts.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) announced this Tuesday amid heavy rains that triggered flooding in the National Capital Region and various nearby provinces.

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said the DBM has already released P2.989 billion in Quick Response Funds (QRFs) to the responsible departments early this year.

The fund release were broken down as follows: Department of Agriculture - 500 million; Department of Education - P550 million; Department of Health - P170.195 million; Department of National Defense (Office of the Secretary) - P352.5 million; Department of National Defense (Office of Civil Defense) - P530 million; Department of Public Works and Highways - P224.286 million; and Department of Social Welfare and Development - P662.5 million.

"These funds are readily available to enable National Government agencies to immediately respond to the needs of localities and citizens affected by calamities," Abad said.

"We are ready to augment these QRFs and the Calamity Fund if needed. We have enough savings that can be realigned to support disaster response and rehabilitation activities," he added.

The 2012 budget provides P7.5 billion for the calamity fund, and a balance of P291.775 million has been carried over from the previous year.

Unlike in the previous fiscal years where the QRFs have been tucked into the calamity fund, the 2012 budget allocates QRFs separately under the budgets of departments.

A total of P10.489 billion has been appropriated for the calamity fund and QRFs, compared to the P5-billion calamity fund under the 2011 Budget. (Jill Beltran/Sunnex)