With the country’s lingering problem on perennial flooding, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said it has allocated P47.3 billion for this year to establish flood-control infrastructures that will cover 18 major river basins and areas that are situated below sea level.
Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad said the funds were allocated to the Department of Public Works and Highways as part of the projects that will be included in the overall “Build Back Better” program to make the country resilient amid harsh typhoons and natural calamities.
The budget chief also said that a total of P276.9 million was allocated this year to the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority for the flood control and sewerage-management program in Metro Manila.
Some projects, Abad said, were funded under the Build Back Better program to protect the environment, as well as neutralize possible environmental issues. These include the Forest Protection Program of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) that seeks to neutralize 31 hotspots areas and protect not only the existing forest cover of 6,839,718 hectares but also establish plantations in lands covering 1,005,013 hectares.
“To intensify the construction of DPWH’s flood control and drainage projects, a P 47.3 billion budget is allocated. This is among the investments that support the shift to proactive approach rooted on prevention and preparedness,” said Abad in a statement on budget for 2015.
He said the Department of Budget Management (DBM) allocated P14 billion to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund (NDRMMF), formerly known as the Calamity Fund, to address needs during natural calamities.
Abad also said the DBM has released P7.02 billion for the DENR’s National Greening Program to improve carbon sequestration and reduce flooding by planting 225 million seedlings in 300,000 hectare area across the country.
The DBM also released P398 million for 2015 to the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA) for the Unified Mapping Project to produce 1,500 image maps covering 360,000 hectares, including 18 river basins. This project will provide up-to-date geospatial information for zoning and development.
He said the government’s total allocation for the Build Back Better Program worth P21.7 billion is an offshoot of lessons learned from the Supertyphoon Yolanda’s devastation in November 2013 that caused massive devastation across the Visayas region.
Estrella Torres