Botched rehab program

Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Butch Abad has admitted that only 8.6 percent or 17,641 of the 205,000 housing units programmed for Yolanda survivors has been built. Out of P75 billion allocated for housing resettlement, only P21 billion were released by the DBM. What happened to the rest?

The Commission on Audit (COA) reported that P384.9 million of typhoon aid funds is unspent. COA also reported that P100 million of donation for Lando also unused.

The government housing agencies were supposed to complete 120,000 housing units in 2015 for Yolanda victims. National Housing Authority (NHA) Chairman Chito Cruz said that the agency had problems finding land suitable for resettlement, and that the bidding process was long, requiring complex documents. The  NHA reported that almost P27 billion have been released for the resettlement program, which plans to build more than 92,000 houses.

Senator Chiz Escudero has asked COA for a special audit of typhoon relief and rehabilitation funds, following his visiting last month in Tacloban wherein he saw thousands of Yolanda victims still living in transitional houses and waiting for livelihood assistance from the government two years after Super Typhoon Yolanda hit the country.

He noted that the government has released more than half of the required funding, which is P89 billion of the P167.8 billion needed for the Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Recovery Plan (CRRP), but the situation of the Yolanda victims has not improved for many families, then something must be wrong somewhere.

Earlier, Chaloka Beyani, a United Nations special rapporteur also said in his report that government had not done enough for those left homeless by Yolanda.

How can President Benigno Aquino consider this performance of Mar Roxas during Yolanda as proof of his leadership ability if there are 130,000 families still homeless and living in tent cities and bunkhouses in Tacloban City and other areas, as reported by Social Watch Philippines (SWP).

Abad announced that P10.20 billion might be released this month for rehabilitation and recovery programs in badly hit areas. P46 billion would be included in the 2016 budget, the bulk of which would go to housing and other rehabilitation and reconstruction projects.

  Abad said he told all government agencies with funds for Yolanda to disaggregate projects in the 2016 budgets.

As for the donations by international agencies, Abad said that of the pledged amount, only P17.23 billion has been received. Only P2.40 billion in cash and in kind reached the government. The remaining amount of P14.8 billion went to the local affiliates of international agencies like the United Nations (UN).

The Aquino administration failed to also release funds allotted for important infrastructure projects and basic services. The backlog in the disbursement of funds and the underspending or non-release of funds affected the country’s economic growth, which Abad admitted in a congressional hearing on the 2016 national budget.

20% increase of education budget

In a speech in Hinunangan, Southern Leyte, Vice President Jejomar Binay recognized the current administration’s neglect of the education sector and haphazard implementation of education programs. He vowed to increase the budget for education and training by 20 percent, as well as raising the basic salary of teachers and give them other extra benefits, including housing, if he gets elected in 2016.

The increased fund will be used to build more classrooms, purchase more books and other instructional materials and equipment for elementary schools.  As for students in private schools, the student loans and grants program under the GASTPE Law, or Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education, will be expanded so that more students can attend school. In the collegiate and vocational-technical levels, scholarships and grants will also be increased.

He added his administration will also make sure there will be more schools for special education, both for the gifted as well as for the differently-abled, as he threw his support to the Special Education Act of 2013 authored by Senator Nancy Binay and currently pending in the Senate.

Moreover, Binay said to complement the K to 12 program, his administration will make sure that basic education will be free for children attending public schools.

More dismissed public officials

The Ombudsman has ordered the dismissal from the service of Cagayan de Oro Mayor Oscar Moreno, for approving a P2.6 million tax break for a private firm without the approval of the City Council.

Moreno was also perpetually barred from holding public office.

In a separate decision, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales also approved the dismissal of Mayor Vicente Fernandez of Matanao, Davao del Sur, and Mayor Mamintal Adiong of Ditsa-an Ramain, Lanao del Sur.

The Ombudsman had also dismissed Capiz Governor Victor Tanco Sr. and his son Vladimir Tanco III from serving public office.

Tanco and Moreno are both Liberal Party (LP) members and are close friends of LP presidential candidate Mar Roxas.

Meanwhile, Senator Lito Lapid was charged with graft, with the overprice of P4.3 million, or overpriced by P1,100 per liter, in the purchase of liquid fertilizer when he was still governor of Pampanga in 2004, shortchanging the government by a total of P4,268,000.

Tidbits

An internet poll survey of Bicol Online shows Mayor Arnie Fuentebella leading the race for governor of Camarines Sur over incumbent Governor Migz Villafuerte, 75 percent to 23.94 percent.

Six bullet scam victims at the NAIA have been released upon representation of PAO chief Percida Acosta, who said the case against the six was weak.

Happy birthday greetings to Vice President Jejomar Binay, who is celebrating his birthday on November 11.