A disturbing report came out one week after super typhoon “Yolanda” (international name “Haiyan”) struck last Nov. 8 that severely devastated the Eastern and Central Visayas provinces. Kabataan party-list Rep. Raymond Palatino recalled a presidential veto in the 2011 General Appropriations Act (GAA) removing the intended funds for disaster risk reduction (DRR). The vetoed item was in the budget that year of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC). Palatino pointed to the presidential veto as the reason why the NDRRMC failed in its mandate to beef up preparations against typhoons and other calamities like the case of Yolanda. “The President made a tactical blunder when he disallowed use of funds for pre-disaster activities, building of relocation sites, and training of personnel. The veto is man-made disaster that should be reversed by the President himself,” Palatino urged. In his veto message on the 2011 GAA, President Aquino cited the P5-billion Calamity Fund should be mainly used by the NDRRMC for “actual calamities” and not for “preparation of relocation sites/facilities, and training personnel engaged in direct disaster.” “I caution the inclusion of pre-disaster activities such as preparation of relocation sites/facilities, and training of personnel engaged in direct disaster in the use of the Calamity Fund. While said purpose is laudable, the same must be weighed against the imperious need of maintaining sufficient provision under the Calamity Fund for actual calamities and prevent its full utilization for pre-disaster activities. Moreover, I note that the provision for pre-disaster activities are embedded and subsumed in the programs and projects of various implementing agencies under this Act,” President Aquino pointed out in the same veto message on the 2011 GAA. The impact of this presidential veto two years ago obviously sapped the capability-building of the NDRRMC to invest in its pre-disaster mandate down to the grassroots. Once again we are seeing why the local government units (LGUs) — as first responders to disasters — failed to deliver during and immediately after Yolanda. Opinion ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 As the government agency tasked to oversee national and local DRR measures, the NDRRMC was again reduced to post-calamity reaction instead of being pro-active. Based on Section 22 of Republic Act (RA) 10121 that created the NDRRMC, disaster risk reduction, prevention, and preparedness should be the primary mandate of the agency. The law further states that quick response to calamities should be secondary and should only be given 30 percent of the total NDRRMC budget. The intent of the law RA 10121, or the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Law, is to finance risk reduction measures. This is clearly stated as it renamed the disaster fund from Calamity Fund to NDRRM Fund and specified a 70% share for pre-disaster interventions. Manny de Guzman, consultant of the United Nations and Asean Secretariat on DRR, noted this serious flaw on presidential priorities. On his Facebook account, De Guzman pointed out the NDRRMC has zero national fund for prevention, mitigation, and preparedness in spite of the enormous challenge to implement disaster risk reduction pursuant to laws of the land. And if I may add, laws of nature that we cannot afford to defy. Investments in prevention and mitigation are inadequate, if not lacking, De Guzman lamented. Now, he urged, recovery and reconstruction that ensures reduced disaster risk and strengthened resilience must be the top priority of the national and local governments. De Guzman formerly headed the Office of Civil Defense during the term of ex-Department of National Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado. He headed the immediate forerunner of the NDRRMC, once called the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC). “Preparedness for response alone, even with early warning in place, is not enough. The enormity of the disaster risk in Tacloban and nearby towns requires interventions beyond preparedness,” he stressed. Last Monday, Budget and Management Secretary Florencio Abad disclosed the Aquino administration might seek changes in the proposed 2014 budget to increase the Calamity Fund and introduce items to finance the rehabilitation of Yolanda-affected provinces and the last month’s earthquake that seriously damaged Bohol. Abad particularly wanted to increase the proposed P7.5-billion Calamity Fund for 2014. How to finance this, Abad pointed to the possible soft loans and grants that will be given to the Philippines for the rehabilitation and reconstruction. Already approved by the House of Representatives, the proposed 2014 GAA bill is now being deliberated at the Senate. But again, all calamity funds in the proposed 2014 budget can only be used when there is already a disaster to respond to. This is the right time to correct such very seriously flawed budget priorities in the Aquino administration. At the same time, both chambers of the 16th Congress can already amend the 2014 budget bill to conform with the unanimous ruling by the Supreme Court (SC) yesterday that effectively removed the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) from the budget that lawmakers approve every year. Lawmakers have already indicated their collective will and decision to pool resources, including their PDAF, on trying to rebuild the disaster-stricken areas. Lessons learned from super typhoon Yolanda should convince everyone of the dire need to invest public and private funds on DRR projects to reduce costly loss of lives and properties. On a post-Yolanda disaster assessment, President Aquino accompanied by Interior Secretary Mar Roxas ll, both wearing their signature yellow shirts, were photographed meeting for the second time last Sunday with Tacloban City Mayor Alfredo Romualdez, who was wearing his own political color red shirt. P-Noy is convinced there were a lot of shortcomings by LGUs in the Yolanda-hit areas. Look who’s talking. The people may turn blue saying this over and over again but political colors that divide our national and local officials — between the yellow and the red — should stop right here, right now.
Posted on: Wed, 20 Nov 2013 01:58:04 +0000
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