DBM, USAID increase financial support for ‘Odette’ victims

REBUILDING Residents of Ubay, Bohol, dig through piles of debris to find anything they can use to rebuild their homes destroyed by Typhoon “Odette,” as it battered the Visayas and Mindanao last week. —LEO UDTOHAN

MANILA, Philippines — The national government and the United States have jacked up their financial support to localities flattened by Typhoon Odette last week.

Special allotment release order (Saro) documents of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed it approved on Dec. 28 an additional P4.9 billion, released to the Department of Finance (DOF) through the Bureau of the Treasury, for local government units (LGUs) worst-hit by “Odette.”

On top of the P2 billion — P1 billion each on Dec. 24 and 27 — earlier released to the Treasury, total assistance to LGUs in the six regions placed under a state of calamity due to “Odette” now stood at P6.9 billion, DBM documents showed.

In a statement on Wednesday, the DBM said affected LGUs in Mimaropa will receive a total of P454.2 million; P2.1 billion in Western Visayas; P1.4 billion in Central Visayas; P1.2 billion in Eastern Visayas; P363.4 million in Northern Mindanao; and P1.3 billion in Caraga.

The DBM’s latest P4.9-billion release will go to individuals whose livelihoods and properties were damaged during the onslaught of “Odette.” Per region, victims in Mimaropa will divide among themselves P198.2 million; in Western Visayas, P1.6 billion; Central Visayas, P1 billion; Eastern Visayas, P964.1 million; Northern Mindanao, P156 million; and Caraga, P864.1 million.

“Affected persons and families are expected to receive assistance equivalent to P1,000 per individual and a maximum of P5,000 per household. The recipient-LGU shall facilitate and determine the most efficient way to immediately provide the assistance to their constituents, subject to close supervision and monitoring of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DSWD) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD),” the DBM said.

“The individual allocations of the respective cities and municipalities were computed based on the number of affected individuals and households, as recently reported by the DSWD,” the DBM added.

The DBM said this latest release was charged from unprogrammed appropriations in the 2021 national budget, which meant it came from foreign borrowings such as the about P4-billion released by the World Bank under its quick-disbursing loan extended to the Philippines in November.

As such, these funds “shall be recorded as trust receipts, which implies that the fund can only be used by the recipient-LGU for the provision of assistance to those affected by the damages caused by typhoon ‘Odette,'” the DBM said.

Upon the Treasury’s fund release to LGUs through their respective authorized government-servicing banks, local executives must disburse all of their allotments until Dec. 31, 2022. “Otherwise, all unutilized funds after end-December next year will be reverted to the national treasury by the concerned LGU,” according to the DBM.

Together with the P827.2 million in quick response funds (QRFs) replenished by the DBM for three government agencies responding to post-“Odette” needs, the national government so far released a total of P7.7 billion to reconstruct and rehabilitate areas and populations which suffered from the typhoon’s wrath.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), meanwhile, upped its humanitarian assistance to “Odette” victims to $20.2 million or over P1.01 billion.

The US government initially pledged $200,000 (about P10 million), then added $1 million (P50 million), before this latest $19-million (P950-million) additional commitment.

“With this humanitarian assistance, USAID will provide food assistance; water, sanitation and hygiene programs to help keep people healthy; shelter assistance to meet emergency needs and help affected communities start rebuilding homes; and protection for the most vulnerable,” the aid agency said in a statement.

“We stand steadfast with our longstanding friend, partner, and ally in helping support communities devastated by the typhoon. This additional assistance will help deliver food and hygiene supplies, and provide life-saving support to those most in need,” US Embassy in the Philippines Chargé d’Affaires ad interim Heather Variava said in a separate statement.

The US Embassy in Manila said Variava “plans to visit communities affected by typhoon ‘Odette’ and see ongoing US relief activities.”

“Since 2010, USAID has provided more than P17 billion ($340 million) in disaster relief and recovery aid, and boosted the disaster risk reduction capacity of over 100 cities and municipalities in the Philippines,” the embassy noted.

The World Bank, which will lend the Philippines a total of $200 million or about P10 billion from its $500-million fourth disaster risk management development policy loan with a catastrophe deferred drawdown option (CAT-DDO 4) facility, said in a Dec. 28 statement that the initial $80-million financing released on Tuesday “supports on-going government efforts to strengthen disaster response and recovery policies and interventions.”

“It comes with technical assistance to support preparations of pre-approved disaster rehabilitation and recovery plans to speed up access to funding from the national government for post-disaster recovery and reconstruction,” the World Bank said.

The World Bank noted that this contingent credit line allowed the Philippines to immediately tap financing, upon declaration of a state of calamity or national health emergency, “to manage financial impacts brought about by these shocks without undertaking disruptive budget reallocations or cutting implementation of ongoing programs.”

“The Philippine government may access additional resources from the CAT-DDO 4 in response to typhoon Rai [the international name of “Odette”] in January 2022,” the World Bank said, referring to the additional $120 million to be drawn during the first week of next year, upon availability of loan cover from the 2022 national budget, which President Duterte was expected to sign on Thursday, Dec. 30.

“In times of calamities like typhoons and floods, poor families suffer disproportionately. The World Bank stands with the country during this difficult time. We are committed to help hasten the country’s recovery and reconstruction efforts, restore social services, and strengthen the country’s defenses against future disaster risks,” Ndiamé Diop, the Washington-based multilateral lender’s country director for Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand, said.

World Bank Philippines senior disaster risk management specialist Lesley Jeanne Cordero said the “ready to rebuild (R2R)” program being jointly implemented together with the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) since March of this year “could be tapped to assist the provinces, cities, and municipalities affected by super-typhoon ‘Odette’ as they develop their local recovery plans, implement reconstruction projects, and leverage funding support.”

“This will help devastated communities build back better and pursue a green, resilient, and inclusive recovery,” Cordero said.

/MUF