Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte renewed his appeal to Senate leaders to include in next year’s national budget bill his proposed P20-billion outlay for the fast-track recovery and rehabilitation of the Bicol Region that was the worst hit area by severe tropical storm Kristine.
Villafuerte expressed optimism that the Senate would act favorably on his proposed P20-billion allocation in next year’s national budget as the first annual budget for a multi-year Bicol Recovery and Rehabilitation Fund (BRRF) to help CamSur, which suffered the worst flooding ever, and the rest of his hardest-hit region get back on its feet at the soonest.
Villafuerte made this budget appeal to senators as Senate President Francis Escudero, and Senator Grace Poe, who chairs the Senate finance committee, said separately that their chamber would prioritize deliberations on the proposed 2025 General Appropriations Act as the bicameral Congress reopened on Monday following its over month-long break.
His proposed inclusion of the BRRF in next year’s budget plan jibes with Escudero’s statement that the 2025 GAA should already be “climate adapted and climate resilient.”
Poe was quoted, meanwhile, as saying that she expects the Senate to wrap up its 2025 GAA deliberations before end-November.
“With the proposed 2025 GAA bill already passed by the House of Representatives before our Sept. 28-Nov. 3 congressional break, I am appealing to our senators to consider realigning funds or finding new fund sources for this proposed BRRF during their deliberations on their version of the 2025 national budget plan,” Villafuerte said.
“The House of Representatives under the leadership of Speaker Martin (Romualdez) could then concur with such a funding proposal in the bicam (bicameral conference committee) process that will happen later to reconcile a final 2025 GAA bill for ratification by both chambers and then for submission to Malacañan for the President’s approval and signature into law,” Villafuerte said.
“The single biggest undertaking that the government can carry out with this proposed BRRF, if and when it is approved by the Congress, is to revive the long-discontinued BRBDP (Bicol River Basin Development Program), which President Marcos himself, during his October visit to CamSur, ordered the DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) to ‘revisit’ as a long-term solution to the region’s chronic flooding,” Villafuerte added.
