P170.9-B Yolanda rehab plan submitted to Noy

MANILA, Philippines - Presidential assistant for rehabilitation and recovery Panfilo Lacson submitted to President Aquino yesterday a P170.9-billion Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Recovery Plan (CRRP) for the areas hit by Super Typhoon Yolanda last year.

Aquino expressed appreciation for the submission of the plan, an 8,000-page, eight-volume report, after the memorial mass in honor of the President’s late mother, Corazon.

The CRRP includes the Local Government Units Recovery and Rehabilitation Plans (LRRPs) of Cebu, Western Samar, Leyte, Eastern Samar, Iloilo and Tacloban City covering 104 out of the 171 Yolanda-affected municipalities which were approved by the President last July 25.

With the President’s approval, some P96 billion may be downloaded from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for deployment in various rehabilitation projects.

The CRRP is a full-scale master plan involving five clusters: infrastructure, livelihood, resettlement, social services and livelihood support.

The Office of the Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery (OPARR) serves as chief coordinator of the programs, activities and projects being undertaken by all Cabinet departments, national government agencies and local government units (LGUs).

Total cost for the CRRP is estimated at P170.9 billion, Lacson said.

He said the amount also addresses other concerns included by the OPARR in the CRRP such as programs related to climate change adaptation and gender sensitive needs and equality.

The CRRP takes into account, among others, cluster action plans from relevant government agencies and rehabilitation plans of LGUs from the Yolanda corridor; the Recovery Assistance for Yolanda (RAY I) and the draft Implementation for Results (I4R) prepared by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA); the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) of the Office of Civil Defense; and plans and programs formulated by OPARR following an overarching principle of “Building Back Better and Safer.”

Lacson said the CRRP would include, among others, the relocation of some 200,000 families displaced by the surge or inhabiting unsafe zones in the Yolanda corridor to safe zones in newly built permanent houses; shelter assistance for some one million homeowners whose houses were either partially or totally damaged; livelihood and training assistance for affected farmers, livestock raisers and fishermen, and alternative livelihood programs; repair and reconstruction of health facilities; and construction of more resilient government facilities such as classrooms and evacuation centers.

“We are hoping to achieve at least 80 percent completion of these priority projects before the end of the President’s term,” Lacson said, noting that the plan would include several long-term projects which would entail the support of succeeding administrations.

Pending approval of the CRRP, the massive implementation of rehabilitation in affected LGUs will now commence since OPARR, with the concurrence of the Cabinet, recommended the Phased Implementation of LRRPs.

Last July 25, Aquino approved the LRRPs of the provinces of Cebu, Western Samar, Leyte, Eastern Samar, Iloilo and the City of Tacloban, which would translate to 104 out of the 171 Yolanda affected cities and municipalities.

The President’s approval of the LRRPs allows the downloading of funds (estimated at P96 billion) from the DBM for government-led rehabilitation efforts in the covered LGUs.

“With the President’s approval of vetted LRRPs and the submission by OPARR of the Master Plan, we are confident that the rehabilitation efforts of the government will now shift to high gear,” Lacson said.

Lacson emphasized that government line agencies were all geared up for the implementation phase of the CRRP.

Lacson said his office was likewise prepared to shift its operations from conceptualizing and planning to the more tedious job of monitoring and overseeing the implementation of the rehabilitation projects on the ground.

Deployed in the 14 provinces severely affected by Yolanda are OPARR coordinators, field data collectors and inspectors and technical experts. The teams will also be augmented by quality assurance engineers.

UNICEF’s aid

Meanwhile, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) will extend financial assistance to 5,800 Yolanda-affected households in Eastern Samar.

UNICEF’s unconditional cash transfer will be provided to beneficiaries of the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program who were hardest-hit by the super typhoon. – With Pia Lee-Brago