Transcript of Press Conference on Calamity Fund

The committee unanimously endorsed the resolution to appropriate P12-B for the emergency relief and rehabilitation for victims of typhoons Ondoy, Pepeng and Frank.

The extent of loss of lives and damage to property and infrastructure is more than P12-B. Agriculture and fisheries losses alone are estimated to be 18-M pesos.

The initial estimate for public roads, bridges, waterways and dikes is about 1.5 but that is very preliminary from the Dept of Public Works. The number of people affected is about 1.2-M families and numbering about 4 to 7 million Filipinos. So, the scale and scope of the loss to large property and infrastructure is probably the biggest so far to have been inflicted on our nation.

The emergency appropriations of 12-B will only partially relieve the suffering and mitigate the damage. More I believe will be needed for the ultimate rehabilitation and construction phase and perhaps it could be taken care of by the regular budget.

But in the meantime, we have decided that we will get this measure out. We have asked and we have the assurance of the DBM and the line agencies who will be involved in the distribution and work involve that they will not do the government business as usual. That means that they will act more speedily. More speedily and more expeditiously on their priorities and we also received the assurances of the DBM that they will act on the releases more speedily and more expeditiously.

Now, there are two things that we will ask the NDCC, which under our law, is the conductor, the principal coordinator of relief, rehabilitation efforts of government.

Two things. Number one, to delineate where the P12 billion public money will go, and to define the qualification and eligibility of projects that will be funded out of public money.

And on the other hand, identify the projects that will be funded of foreign government grants, private donations, etc.

So, there should be a clear cut delineation and division of spending of public money versus non-governmental including foreign governments' donations. That's very important to us and secondly that there is an eligibility definition. Which projects and programs qualify for public funding. And those are the requirements for more or less ensure that this money will go for the purposes it was intended.

For instance, Siguro yung food and clothing needs ngayon is being fulfilled and met by the donations from foreign governments and private sector like ABS-CBN, Red Cross, etc., that was explained to us by the DSWD representative.

That's one illustration. The reconstruction of essential and vital passage way, roadway, halimbawa Sta. Fe, going to Cagayan Valley...you know when you close the entire Cagayan Valley, Kennon and Marcos Hi-way when you close that, you close the entire Cordillera and Baguio and isolating, so that's one project that really deserves public funding.

The breakdown of communication. Mga telephone lines or towers, cell sites. those are private. Government must urge the private companies to reconstruct and rehabilitate and rebuild them immediately. In the meantime, government ought to provide temporary service.

The 12-B will be coming from the so-called unprogrammed portion of the national budget. Unprogrammed is defined as one which has no funding yet when the budget was made. But will be funded if money comes in during the course of the budget year such as additional revenue, tax collection, borrowings, so borrowed funds and any other income of government that was not anticipated or expected or included in the revenue target.

And so, specifically, this will come from what I've been told. This will come particularly from the proceeds of Malampaya share of the national government. But the total amount there is 14-B, so they will get 12-B out of 14-B from the Malampaya proceeds.

NDCC will identify the qualified areas. Under the NDCC charter, the NDCC is an umbrella organization that is supposed to coordinate the relief and rehabilitation efforts of government in case of disaster and can call on any government department or agency to work on it.

But the line agencies who are automatically members of the NDCC, specifically infrastructure departments, are the ones who will prioritize their projects for funding purposes. Like DPWH, sila ang magpa-prioritize nung damaged infrastructure. Education will prioritize the school buildings and other physical plans under their jurisdiction.

DA will prioritize crops, and fisheries damage. So each of the line departments in charge of that particular commodity or area will be the one to prioritize initially and then it goes to the NDCC for overall coordination then go straight to DBM for fund release.

The whole congress ought to be an oversight here. The oversight function of congress is present and we ought to exercise it in this particular case because this is urgent.

You know, this is two-faced work. Yung relief and rehabilitation. This can take up to the end of this year. You know, rebuilding homes and opening up roads that have been blocked, building dikes so that if there is another typhoon, the water will flow.

Those are immediate rehabilitation.

The second phase is mitigation, so that when the next disaster comes, mami-minimize mo ang damage so, reconstruction on what is destroyed, dams...

May 45-day ban (pag election time), but those who have started before the ban, can be prosecuted to completion. Tuluy-tuloy.

Ngayon, ang mga delaying factors diyan principally, is the bureaucratic slowness, when you take case as ordinary thing. But this is not - this is no ordinary time. I narrated to them the experience of United States - of Bush when Katrina struck. The richest country in the world and the remaining super power was so slow in responding to the Katrina hurricane. And this is the timing of bicameral and bipartisan commission. The systems that were in place, were not utilized. The federal and the state officials did not respond as quickly. Kaya galit ang mga tao.

The same experience that was undergone by Taiwan. Just very recent. In August, for the supreme, akala ng gobyerno, ordinary rain lang, but it raised the water level up to four meters, in Southern Taiwan. It wiped out their entire agriculture. Na-wash out ang mga bahay, gumuho ang mga bundok, at 200,000 people died, because the slowness of the government to respond. Government had to reshuffle the whole cabinet, fired the Prime Minister. That's what we want to avoid, kasi nga this situation, this catastrophe could become inflammatory. And that's why I thought that media ought to have also to come to people's anxiety and anger. But the government must come to act quickly and respond expeditiously.

Ngayon, some departments are already ready and just a question of their priority plans like DPWH, they are ready and consolidated initial damage and identify which one should go first. And they can do that in a couple of days.

DA, I think, medyo kalat pa ang DA. Ang natapos pa lang nila ay the extent of damage, they have a lot of work to do. DSWD who takes care of individuals and persons, meron na rin silang quick response plan.

So, lahat ng departments are prepared and ready and ready to spend more than other departments.

That I think is the attraction and appeal having handled by the NDCC, because the organization is down to the town level.

The safeguards nga, is that we define very clearly what is the projects that have to be funded and supported.

Tatalakyin nila kung ano ang uses ng foreign and government donations at ano ang uses ng public funds. Kaya, I think, initially, itong foreign grants are mostly coming in time. Mga rice, foods, blankets, tents, etc., are going to relief immediately sa mga pamilya.

Currently there is $22-M in cash and in deposit.

But again, it is allocated to the line agencies, dahil NDCC naman is only an umbrella coordinator. That's almost 5-B pesos, because I understand, the total, the cash as well as kind, that's almost $100-M. That's equivalent to 5-B pesos.

We are waiting for the copy of the executive order para ma-analyze namin yan intelligently.

On this issue bicam will not be needed because imbes na bill ang pinili naming mode, joint resolution na lang and we in the Senate will just adopt the House version which is almost identical to the Senate, because nag-coordinate na kami .

Salamat.