Ping: Yolanda rehab efforts to start locally

FORT DEL PILAR, Baguio City, Philippines – The government will not wait for the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) to finish its needs assessment in typhoon-hit areas and will instead start the rehabilitation effort locally.

Rehabilitation czar Panfilo Lacson said he was informed that the NDRRMC’s needs assessment would be completed by the end of March.

But Lacson said he told President Aquino in a Cabinet meeting that the typhoon victims “cannot wait that long because they are suffering.”

“What we did in PARR (Presidential Assistant on Rehabilitation and Recovery) was bottom up. Instead of waiting for the national, we went down to the local government unit and if they prepared a damage assessment, if they have a ready rehabilitation plan, we will use them, of course with proper consultation with national agencies,” Lacson said in a chance interview yesterday.

He also said the ground-breaking ceremonies for new housing units, schools and buildings would start next week.

Today marks the 100th day since Super Typhoon Yolanda devastated parts of the Visayas and left more than 6,200 people dead and over P36 billion worth of property damaged.

Lacson admitted that only less than 10 percent of the rehabilitation effort has been completed but he said the coordination is continuous.

“The coordination is massive and once it starts, it will be continuous and it will be fast. You will be surprised,” he said. “If the full implementation (of the rehabilitation effort) starts, it will sprout like mushrooms.”

‘Powerhouse multi-donor fund’

Lacson said his office is guiding private groups involved in reconstruction activities on government building standards.

He also bared that a private multi-donor fund that would support rehabilitation and recovery measures may be launched within two weeks.

“The multi-donor fund is private and it will be a powerhouse… I think the donations that will come in will be huge,” he said.

Foreign governments have pledged P23 billion in assistance but so far only P700 million has been delivered.

“The gap between the pledges and the delivered amount is huge. It’s our job to follow-up on the pledges,” Lacson said.

The National Economic and Development Authority said the recovery and reconstruction activities in typhoon-struck areas would require P361 billion in investments.

The estimated total investment requirements for recovery and reconstruction would cover shelter and resettlement (P183.3 billion), public infrastructure (P28.4 billion), education and health services (P37.4 billion), agriculture (P18.7 billion), industry and services (P70.6 billion), local government (P4 billion), and social protection (P18.4 billion).

Palace: Gov’t help won’t stop

Amid these difficulties in rehabilitation efforts, Malacañang reassured Yolanda survivors that they would continue to get help from the government.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the national government agencies continued to push for what “needs to be done” in areas hit by the super typhoon.

Valte also maintained that the government has not forgotten the residents affected by the Zamboanga City siege last September, following reports that many residents had died while staying in evacuation centers.

She said the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is coordinating with the Department of Health “to increase the number of health workers in evacuation centers to take care of the people there.”

“We assure them that the DSWD and non-government organizations are focused on improving their lot,” she added.

Valte also said the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is ready to extend consideration to taxpayers in typhoon-ravaged areas who would be filing their income tax returns (ITRs) this summer.

“As far as the proposal for a tax moratorium is concerned, BIR Commissioner (Kim) Henares already answered this and she said that the BIR, in those regions, will be extending the utmost accommodation to our citizens who will be filing the ITRs this coming April,” Valte said. – With Aurea Calica