Herd above water

Last week, in the aftermath of supertyphoon “Yolanda,” when our dear leader Benigno Simeon (aka BS) declared a state of national calamity, he announced the release of some P1 billion for rescue-and-relief operations for more than 300,000 displaced victims.

It is not a substantial amount, to be sure. It amounts to about P3,000 for each of the 300,000 displaced individuals, which in itself is a conservative estimate.

According to the United Nations, the supertyphoon affected more than 4.3 million people in 36 provinces. Perhaps that P1 billion released by the national government would not even be enough to keep their heads above water.

On top of the rescue-and-relief operations, our leader BS also wanted the government to provide some P18 billion to rebuild the 36 devastated provinces, particularly Eastern Samar and Leyte. He announced that the funds would come from “savings” of the national government, plus the calamity and the contingency funds.

To the business community, that P18 billion also was not a particularly impressive amount. A thorough evaluation is still needed on just how far the money would go in the rehabilitation of the devastated areas in the Visayas.

More than a week after the horrific Yolanda, nobody would yet dare to provide an estimate of the extent of the damage. We could only obtain bits and pieces of information.

In a small coastal town in Eastern Samar called Arteche (15,000 population), the local government unit (LGU) estimated at least 200 dead. In Hernani, another Eastern Samar coastal town, more than 300 people died. Our info from LGUs in the Eastern Samar towns of Giporlos and Guiuan, which were the first towns hit by the typhoon, some 95 percent of the structures there were destroyed.

By the way, the media coverage of the devastation seemed to focus on Tacloban and Leyte, although the destructive supertyphoon first hit land in Eastern Samar, which also absorbed widespread devastation.

Forgive me but I must mention this small fishing town in Eastern Samar facing the Pacific Ocean called Dolores (38,000 population), where last year our Rotary Club of Makati Dasmariñas went to provide free eye cataract surgery, a medical mission arranged by the feisty octogenarian mayor, Emiliana Villacarillo, whom we knew simply as Ewit.

Over the phone last week, we asked her what the people of Dolores need the most. She told us that all their fishing boats were gone, taken away by the huge storm surges that reached more than a thousand meters inland. She then requested for fishing boats, of all things, because the good mayor wanted her people to begin rebuilding their lives by going back to work.

More than the physical rehabilitation of the devastated areas, the creation of jobs—okay, means of livelihood—seems to be the biggest task now facing the government.

The Department of Agriculture announced that the damage to farms and crops in the Visayas could reach P3.7 billion.

We all know that the islands of Samar and Leyte have been heavily dependent on coconut farming. It would take at least five years to replace the coconut trees demolished by Yolanda. It follows that the vast majority of the people of Eastern Visayas would need alternative means of livelihood.

And the government would need tons of money for livelihood programs, even though more supertyphoons could come our way in the future.

In fact, in anticipation of more storms on the scale of Yolanda—or, heaven help us, even stronger—our dear leader BS already ordered the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) to set up all-weather communications systems throughout the country. These facilities are expected to continue working even during calamities. The systems will also cost tons of money.

Moreover, the political opposition in the House of Representatives has proposed a P25-billion rehabilitation program for Central Visayas, which was ravaged by a strong earthquake last month, displacing more than 350,000 people, destroying more than 73,000 structures, including centuries-old churches and historic sites.

What do you think: Perhaps the national calamity, brought on by Yolanda and the earthquake, gave Malacañang a strong argument to keep the discretionary funds of the Office of the President?

We can already hear the Palace boys of our dear leader BS, arguing that the so-called discretionary funds would be irreplaceable in times of calamity. Well, the President of the republic—who happens to be our dear leader BS today—cannot wait for one whole “fiscal” year to obtain the budget for emergencies, including projects for reconstruction and livelihood project. Precisely, the “discretionary” funds were meant for contingencies like natural calamities that have always been certain to come our way.

In public, Sen. Antonio Trillanes already expressed support for the discretionary fund of the Office of the President, noting that the national government should have the means to address problems needing its immediate attention.

Incidentally, Trillanes was one of the senators who tapped the DAP, the disbursement acceleration program, of the Aquino (Part II) administration. He also stated in public that he could account for every single centavo of his DAP allocation, which he already posted on his website.

Anyway, let us say that the Office of the President has no discretionary fund, what would happen to the earthquake victims in Bohol and the supertyphoon victims in the entire Visayas? They would have to wait for Congress to hurry up in passing a special law to fund the rehabilitation efforts in the regions. But I must say “good luck” on that one. Worse, they might have to wait for the next Congress to pass next year’s budget for the funding allocation.

Now, the Office of the President also has this so-called calamity fund, which in the past has always been depleted as a result of one disaster after another visiting our country. In effect, the discretionary fund served as a standby, no-delay fund for emergencies.

Technically, the discretionary fund should include “savings” of the national government, plus the “unprogrammed” funds coming from, say, windfall revenue collections—you know, things like the income remitted by GOCCs and government financial institutions and sale of government assets.

Not many people know that those were the funds used by the Aquino (Part II) administration in its economic pump-priming move known as the DAP, which unfortunately acquired a bit of notoriety among the heads of the herd clamoring against the pork barrel.

Cases were filed with the Supreme Court questioning the legality of the DAP. Although the Supreme Court refused to issue the TRO against the DAP, it did so against the release of the remaining PDAF for 2013 and the Malampaya funds.

The catastrophic events in the Visayas surely serves to reinforce the argument of the Aquino (Part II) administration in favor of the DAP. The only question now is whether the Supreme Court will rule in favor of the government on the DAP cases.

The high tribunal rescheduled oral arguments on the issue to Nov. 19 this year, about two weeks after the tragedy called Yolanda. There is, I think, the lucky element of timing here.