LGUs affected by Taal eruption running out of calamity funds
Published Jan 20, 2020 12:00 am
By Genalyn Kabiling
Local government units affected by the Taal Volcano eruption are now running out of calamity funds and now in dire need of financial assistance.
Interior Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III (FACEBOOK/ MANILA BULLETIN)
With this development, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) intends to request for additional funds from the Congress to sustain the disaster relief efforts of the LGUs
"Hopefully, we can get additional funding through Congress or sa pondo po ng Office of the President,” Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III.
He added that House Speaker Alan Cayetano has already proposed a meeting with the DILG to discuss the budget proposal amid reports of the dwindling calamity funds of local government units.
“I would like to announce that Speaker Alan Cayeteno has already called upon us at the DILG to meet with him at the soonest possible time so that we can talk about the assistance that Congress can give to the situation right now,” Densing said during the “Laging Handa” press briefing in Malacañang.
"Hopefully, we can get additional funding through Congress or sa pondo po ng Office of the President,” he added.
“We have received information on the ground that many of the local government units have now a depleted risk reduction and management fund,” Densing said.
He said a mayor from a Batangas town even admitted having “zero” funds left for calamity assistance.
Currently, Batangas and Cavite are under state of calamity following the Taal eruption. Alert level 4 remains in effect over the volcano amid its continued unrest, triggering the evacuation of people and closure of commercial establishments.
Densing noted that the local government units have yet to start collecting revenues from prosperities and commercial establishments, which could have been used to augment their calamity funds.
“Ang mabigat po nito, ang January supposedly ay buwan kung saan nangongolekta po iyong ating mga local officials ng business taxes and amelyar, eh wala pa silang nakokolekta sa mga lugar na iyon (The big concern here is January is supposed to be the month when local officials collect business taxes and real property taxes. They have not yet collected anything from these places),” he said.
“If we can get a clearer picture, maybe we can get more funding or assistance from the national government and most probably maybe Congress can also give additional budget for what’s happening right now because of this Taal eruption,” he said.
Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado had earlier assured that the government has “more than enough” funds for disaster reponse and relief efforts for the Taal volcano-affected areas.
The “fist-responder” government agencies have around P6.8 billion for disaster response in this year's national budget that can be tapped for the Taal Volcano relief efforts.
The budget chief, however, urged the local government of Batangas to utilize its calamity funds around P409 million before the national government comes in.
“We would like to assure the people that the government is doing its best and managing the funds necessary to respond to all these needs,” he said during the Taal situation briefing in Batangas City last week.
Interior Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III (FACEBOOK/ MANILA BULLETIN)
With this development, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) intends to request for additional funds from the Congress to sustain the disaster relief efforts of the LGUs
"Hopefully, we can get additional funding through Congress or sa pondo po ng Office of the President,” Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III.
He added that House Speaker Alan Cayetano has already proposed a meeting with the DILG to discuss the budget proposal amid reports of the dwindling calamity funds of local government units.
“I would like to announce that Speaker Alan Cayeteno has already called upon us at the DILG to meet with him at the soonest possible time so that we can talk about the assistance that Congress can give to the situation right now,” Densing said during the “Laging Handa” press briefing in Malacañang.
"Hopefully, we can get additional funding through Congress or sa pondo po ng Office of the President,” he added.
“We have received information on the ground that many of the local government units have now a depleted risk reduction and management fund,” Densing said.
He said a mayor from a Batangas town even admitted having “zero” funds left for calamity assistance.
Currently, Batangas and Cavite are under state of calamity following the Taal eruption. Alert level 4 remains in effect over the volcano amid its continued unrest, triggering the evacuation of people and closure of commercial establishments.
Densing noted that the local government units have yet to start collecting revenues from prosperities and commercial establishments, which could have been used to augment their calamity funds.
“Ang mabigat po nito, ang January supposedly ay buwan kung saan nangongolekta po iyong ating mga local officials ng business taxes and amelyar, eh wala pa silang nakokolekta sa mga lugar na iyon (The big concern here is January is supposed to be the month when local officials collect business taxes and real property taxes. They have not yet collected anything from these places),” he said.
“If we can get a clearer picture, maybe we can get more funding or assistance from the national government and most probably maybe Congress can also give additional budget for what’s happening right now because of this Taal eruption,” he said.
Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado had earlier assured that the government has “more than enough” funds for disaster reponse and relief efforts for the Taal volcano-affected areas.
The “fist-responder” government agencies have around P6.8 billion for disaster response in this year's national budget that can be tapped for the Taal Volcano relief efforts.
The budget chief, however, urged the local government of Batangas to utilize its calamity funds around P409 million before the national government comes in.
“We would like to assure the people that the government is doing its best and managing the funds necessary to respond to all these needs,” he said during the Taal situation briefing in Batangas City last week.