Abad: Yolanda rehab fund almost depleted

MANILA, Philippines - The Yolanda reconstruction fund for this year has nearly been depleted, according to Budget Secretary Florencio Abad.

“There is only a balance of about P2.4 billion,” he told the House of Representatives appropriations committee chaired by Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab.

He said Congress had created a P100-billion Yolanda reconstruction fund in the 2014 national budget.

Of that amount, P20 billion was in the programmed portion, which meant it was funded, while the bulk of P80 billion was in the unprogrammed section, which meant that its availability depended on excess revenues and loan proceeds, he said.

He said the P2.4-billion balance is from the P20-billion programmed portion of the Yolanda reconstruction outlay.

He pointed out that the Supreme Court decision striking down certain practices under the Disbursement Acceleration Program as unconstitutional made it almost impossible for the government to use the P80 billion or any unprogrammed fund.

“The decision requires us to comprehensively compute excess revenues from all sources and all disbursements, and for the Commission on Audit to audit the data. That process will take at least three months. By that time, the authority from Congress to spend the amount has already expired,” he added.

He stressed that the unavailability of the P80 billion is one of the reasons that prompted President Aquino to propose a P22.5-billion supplemental budget for this year.

Abad said it is easier to propose to Congress a supplemental budget than to access the P80-billion unprogrammed Yolanda fund.

In compliance with the Constitution, the Bureau of Treasury has certified that P28 billion in excess dividends from state corporations and its earnings from bond placements are available to fund the supplemental outlay.

About P9.5 billion of the additional budget is intended for Yolanda victims.