NOV.

17, 2011 DATE

NR # 2590
REF. NO.

Solon urges the national government to release calamity funds for Bicol region
A lawmaker has urged President Benigno Aquino III to order the release of calamity funds in areas of the Bicol region which were badly hit by typhoons and which were declared under a state of calamity by the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC). In House Resolution 1741, Rep. Salvio Fortuno (5th District, Camarines Sur ) also asked government to establish a national crop insurance system and formulate a master plan to address the flooding in the Bicol region. Fortuno, Chairman of the House Special Committee on Bicol Recovery and Economic Development, said a tail end of a cold front (TECF) in late December 2010 and at least four destructive typhoons, during the first seven months of 2011 namely Bebeng, Chedeng, Falcon and Juaning have caused serious damage to life and property in the Bicol region. The combined damages of three typhoons amounted to P3.1 billion in infrastructure and P1.5 billion in agriculture while 93 persons died and thousands of families were evacuated, Fortuno said. Fortuno said some 1,230,022 people in 1,267 villages in 137 towns and 10 cities in 23 provinces in CARAGA, Bicol and eastern Visayas were affected by the typhoons. The frequency and severity of weather disturbances are expected to worsen in the future due to climate change, Fortuno said. Fortuno said the affected areas are yet to receive the calamity fund and additional funding for repair and rehabilitation of damaged infrastructure in the region. In these times of calamities the mitigation efforts being implemented by regional offices of national government agencies are only palliative and temporary, Fortuno said. Fortuno said farmers need more support in terms of crop insurance to help them cope with the damaging effects caused by the typhoons on their crops. The Department of Agriculture (DA) in the region has already distributed certified seeds to affected farmers in Albay and Camarines Sur for their next planting season, according to Fortuno. The seeds distribution is only one of the needed minor intervention. The greater need is for a crop insurance program so farmers can be compensated in times of calamity, Fortuno said. Fortuno said the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has assisted more than one million persons including people whose homes were partially or totally damaged. Fortuno lamented that the region has not received calamity fund despite the repeated requests from the national agencies of the government. However, Fortuno said the regional office of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has received P56 million on June 9, 2011 for infrastructure rehabilitation but not enough to finance the rehabilitation of many damaged infrastructures. The resolution was co-authored by Reps. Fernando Gonzales (3rd District, Albay), Al Francis Bichara (2nd District, Albay), Deogracias Ramos Jr. (2nd District, Sorsogon), Rodel Batocabe, Christopher Co, and Alfredo Garbin (Partylist, AKO Bicol). (30) jy