By Sandy Araneta
THE United Nationalist Alliance denounced the Aquino administration Friday for not extending relief to towns damaged by Typhoon “Lando” where mayors did not belong to or were not allied with the ruling Liberal Party.
“The reports we are receiving are lamentable. The mayor of San Miguel, Bulacan himself told us that the [Department of Social Welfare and Development] did not give them any help for those affected by Typhoon Lando,” said UNA spokesman Mon Ilagan.
“Even the citizens of Baler and the towns of Cabiao and Bongabon in Nueva Ecija were also not given any help because their mayors are members of parties not allied with the administration,” he added. “Is this how things should be done? Selective relief? If you are not an ally, you don’t get government aid?”
San Miguel Mayor Roderick Tiongson, who ran under the Liberal Party in 2013, is now vying for the governorship of Bulacan under UNA. Baler Mayor Nelianto Bihasa belongs to PDP-Laban.
“This is Yolanda all over again. Politics has sadly reared its ugly head in times of distress. We are certain that the situation would be different if the mayors are part of the LP,” Ilagan said.
“Is it really necessary that government aid for Lando-affected areas should go through party-mates rather than the local government?”
“Even Attorney Edwin Lacierda, who is the spokesman of Mar Roxas, has said that it is more important that aid must reach the people. We agree with this. In the end, what is really important is that government aid reaches those who need it most.”
“We only wish [Lacierda] made the same remark when the distribution of aid in Casiguran, Aurora was withheld because they had to wait for the arrival of the President,” he added.
Ilagan also scored Aquino administration for tacitly allowing members of its Cabinet to use government resources to advance the presidential bid of Roxas in 2016.
“While aid is being withheld from those who are not party-mates, the allies of the administration are riding on the projects of the DSWD for their campaigns,” he said.
As Typhoon Lando approached super typhoon strength as it approached Luzon last Saturday, the LP standard bearers for President and vice president were spotted in a gathering of the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiaries in Koronadal, South Cotabato. The event was organized by DSWD, was also attended by Secretary Corazon Soliman.
Even Transportation and Communications Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya made a slip of the tongue when he credited Tourism Ramon Jimenez for providing him a copy of the survey results saying among others the preference of Filipinos to the continuity of Tuwid na Daan.
“What is the business of the DOT in political matters? Foremost in our mind is this question: Will the results of this political survey aid in explaining the failure of the Department of Tourism to get its 10-million tourist target?” Ilagan asked.
He also questioned if Jimenez had used public funds to commission the political survey that was not part of his office’s mandate.
Opposition candidate for vice president, Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., said Friday the government should provide all available assistance to farmers affected by Typhoon Lando to enable them to rebuild their lives as soon as possible.
“Assistance to the victims should not end with just the distribution of relief goods. We should give adequate support to our farmers so they can resume planting and return to normal as soon as possible,” Marcos said.
For starters Marcos said the government should provide cheap credit facilities to the affected farmers.
Another vice presidential candidate, Senator Francis Escudero asked Friday why no releases have been made since June 30 from the P1-billion People’s Survival Fund that was aimed at boosting long-term mitigation and adaptation programs for local government units in light of climate change.
“Why is that money still there? What is the point of having this special fund if nobody uses it?” he said.
“It’s been three years since we passed the law—has the PSF even been useful to anybody? What is stopping the government from releasing the money?” he added.
As local government units continued to grapple with the unmitigated impact of extreme weather, Escudero called on the government to immediately release the special fund.
“You cannot just go from storm to storm, flood to flood. Climate change is behind these frequent and extreme weather events; LGUs should be more proactive in addressing the problems at the root, instead of being merely reactionary,” he said.
Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, meanwhile, said allotments continue to keep ahead of last year’s rates, with 96.4 percent of funds already released to departments and agencies as of Sept. 30.
The DBM said allotment releases to agencies over the first nine months of 2015 outpaced last year’s figures, with P1.29 trillion already released compared to last year’s P1.1 trillion, he said.
“While most of this year’s national budget has already been released to agencies, we still have around 60 percent of Special Purpose Funds available. For example, only 26.6 percent of the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Fund has been released to date,” Abad said.
“While it may seem like we’re lagging in this regard, the availability of these funds for release means we’re prepared to address the aftermath of calamities hitting the country like Typhoon Lando,” he said.
Fund releases in 2015 as a proportion of the total P2.606-trillion General Appropriations Act reached 90.2 percent or P2.350 trillion, Abad said.