Local government executives of Camarines Sur led by Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte and Gov. Migz Villafuerte thanked President Rodrigo Duterte over the weekend for ordering budget officials to fast-track the release of additional calamity assistance to CamSur and other provinces devastated by the three successive powerful typhoons.
Rep. Villafuerte also thanked the President for approving the Bicol river dredging project, which the congressman had proposed to the Chief Executive along with his request to augment the depleted calamity funds of local government units (LGUs) reeling from the four-fold blow by typhoons Quinta, Rolly and Ulysses along with the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.
“The people of CamSur thank our President for visiting CamSur and for approving our request to augment the calamity assistance funds of all LGUs whose outlays have probably been exhausted already because of the three strong typhoons in succession”•Quinta, Rolly and Ulysses”•along with their COVID-19 response efforts,” Rep. Villafuerte said.
The President ordered the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to expedite the release of the additional calamity assistance to typhoon-hit provinces during a situation briefing with local executives led by Villafuerte, his son the governor, and several Cabinet officials in CamSur.
“Our request was approved because of the support of Senator Bong (Christopher Lawrence) Go who always sends whatever assistance he can give to CamSur,” Rep. Villafuerte said.
For his part, Gov. Villafuerte also thanked the President and Go for the “welcoming news” about the augmentation of the calamity assistance for CamSur, which, according to weather experts, will be among the provinces that will likely be struck by three more typhoons before the yearend.
This developed as Rep. Rida Robes of San Jose del Monte City in Bulacan appealed for unity amid the widespread destruction wrought by the series of typhoons that struck the country in the past weeks.
“It is deeply disheartening that despite the many problems being faced by our country, some have used it to criticize and advance their own political and personal interests. Our difficulties are enormous, our challenges are unprecedented. Many of our countrymen need urgent help. They need our support and assistance at this time,” Robes, chair of the House committee on people’s participation, said.
Robes added “now is not the time to make condemnation. Now is the time to act and do whatever we can to help our distressed countrymen. Let us take the best road for our countrymen. Let us step up to help our fellow Filipinos in need.”
The President gave the go-signal for the dredging of the heavily silted Bicol River to spare CamSur and its surrounding areas from massive flooding during the typhoon season.
But the President thumbed down a proposal for a committee to oversee the project and said he prefers only one person to lead it to ensure the project’s swift implementation.
Gov. Villafuerte informed the President about a 2013 World Bank study that underscored the importance of dredging the Bicol river, which can be implemented in phases starting next year.
“We would be glad to accommodate you, whatever it is. If the World Bank is doing the project study. Sige kung may pera (go ahead if there’s money),” Mr. Duterte told the CamSur governor.
Villafuerte earlier appealed to the DBM to set aside funds for flood control projects for disaster-prone areas in Bicol, as had been committed by President Duterte himself in the past.