The Department of Budget and Management yesterday released P4.85 billion that will be distributed to local government units in areas devastated by Typhoon Odette.
“Affected persons and families are expected to receive assistance equivalent to P1,000 per individual and a maximum of P5,000 per household,” the DBM said.
The funds will be distributed as follows: P198.21 million for Region IV-B; P1.63 billion for Region VI, P1.04 billion for Region VII, P964.10 million for Region VIII; P156.02 million for Region X, and P864.08 million for Region XIII.
The DBM said the funds must be fully disbursed by December 31, 2022.
The mode of distribution would be subject to close supervision and monitoring of the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
In related developments, the United States will extend an additional P950-million aid to the Philippines for the government-led relief operations to areas devastated by the onslaught of Typhoon Odette.
The US Embassy in Manila disclosed the additional donation, which brings to more than P1 billion the foreign country’s support to the Philippines in its post-Odette relief efforts.
At the same time, the South Korean government on Wednesday turned over P2.5 million worth of rice and hygiene kits as immediate relief to the communities affected by Typhoon Odette.
The donation, delivered to the Department of Social Welfare and Development, includes 1,500 sacks of rice and 740 hygiene kits, all of which were sourced locally.
“The Republic of Korea, we know that four million people in 38 provinces and 11 regions are not just there as big numbers, they are people who are in desperate need of speedy and continuous assistance and relief, and I know every little bit counts,” Korean Ambassador to Manila Kim Inchul said.
The envoy noted that this initial aid was on top of its upcoming $2 million (approximately P100 million) humanitarian assistance to further help the typhoon victims recover.
The US assistance through the US Agency for International Development (USAID) will be used for basic necessities such as food; water, sanitation, and hygiene programs will be provided, including shelter assistance to meet emergency needs and help affected communities start rebuilding their homes.
“The United States is pleased to announce an additional and significant assistance of Php950 million, which brings our total amount of aid for Typhoon Odette to over Php1 billion. We stand steadfast with our long-standing friend, partner, and ally in helping support communities devastated by the typhoon,” US Embassy in the Philippines Chargé d’ Affaires ad interim Heather Variava said in a statement.
“This additional assistance will help deliver food and hygiene supplies, and provide life-saving support to those most in need,” she added.
Meanwhile, a party-list legislator slammed President Rodrigo Duterte’s urging Congress or the next President to repeal a law requiring the assessment of reports on disaster areas before a state of calamity would be declared.
Bayan Muna Rep. Eufemia Cullamat dismissed the President’s remark as “stupid,” saying this “is only to divert or deflect the blame for his administration’s incompetent and calamitous responses.”
Duterte wants Republic Act No. 10121 or the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010 either repealed or amended.
“Pres. Duterte should stop making excuses for his incompetent administration and just admit that they were unprepared as usual in dealing with calamities,” she said.
Duterte, who earlier apologized for the delay in his declaration of a state of calamity in six regions devastated by Odette, blamed the provision in his Talk to the People late Monday evening.
“What fool will be able to immediately come up with the required assessment so that there would be a declaration,” he said, adding that the NDRRMC was “busy rescuing [survivors] and retrieving the dead.”
“That law should be changed, and it behooves upon this Congress, if they want to, or the next President, may I advise, [to] try to repeal the law so that assessment will no longer be required,” Duterte added.
Odette first made landfall in Mindanao on December 16 before it barreled across Visayas, leaving close to 400 dead and displacing almost a million people.
The President, however, was only able to declare a state of calamity on Dec. 21.
The declaration allows local governments to tap calamity funds, imposes a price freeze on basic goods, and facilitates foreign aid in recovery efforts, among others.
“[For] the critics, we are always wrong, and they are always right,” the President added, as he lamented that his hands were tied by law’s provision.
“That is why it’s a stupid thing. I have to wait for the report, assessment before I can act on a proclamation. That’s the law so I can’t do anything,” Duterte said in an earlier command conference in Cebu.
Under Republic Act 10121 or the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010, the NDRRMC first has to make an assessment and recommendation to the President for the declaration of a state of calamity.
