FORMER National Treasurer and Social Watch convener Prof. Leonor M. Briones urged the Aquino administration to create a body to monitor spending of the P170.9-billion Comprehensive Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Plan (CRRP), citing Supertyphoon Yolanda-devastated areas have not recovered two years after.
She said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) claimed to have released P88.9 billion for the CRRP, but only a portion, or P21 billion, actually went to Yolanda-devastated areas.
“Immediate resolution of these snags in the implementation of the reconstruction plan can be addressed if only President Aquino will designate a separate entity that has technical and administrative competence to implement the CRRP and other reconstruction efforts in the future, with the necessary budget and mandated to steer the recovery process,” Briones said.
Briones’s call for transparency in the budget for Yolanda rehabilitation came amid a statement of United Nation special rapporteur on Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) Chaloka Beyani that the Philippine government has not done enough for Yolanda survivors, since many thousands of them live in shanties without access to electricity and water.
Social Watch said Congress should examine the P44.49-billion allocation for the Yolanda Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Program in the 2016 national budget, and compel the DBM to specify the allocation for every program, activity and project.
She said the Special Provisions of the 2016 budget for Yolanda Rehabilitation and Reconstruction, Malacañang refuses to make spending transparent with specific amount for each of the programs in the list.
“This, despite that climate-change adaptation and mitigation, is one of the five key result areas of the Aquino administration. For us citizens, it is important that the information is clear to facilitate citizen’s participation, and accountability will be upheld,” Briones said.
She said the DBM-released budget is shared by funding rehabilitation for calamities that happened even before Yolanda—Quinta, Emong, Juaning and Bohol earthquake.
“In other words, the amount they gave is not for Yolanda victims alone. Sharing resources with victims of other disasters is understandable, even desirable, but the government should be transparent about this,” Briones said.
Briones said the DBM claimed that of the total P88.9 billion released to the agencies, almost half, or P41.9 billion, supposedly for Yolanda reconstruction also went to relief and rehab for other calamities.
Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad said the implementation of K to 12, rebuilding of houses in Yolanda-hit areas and health programs for the poor take up the huge share of the proposed P3.002-trillion national budget for 2016.
He said the proposed national budget will help the Aquino administration widen the reach of economic development through social services, which account for the biggest share at P1.1059 trillion, 36.8 percent of the proposed budget.
The sector’s allocation has increased by16.1 percent from P952.7 billion in 2015. It supports the implementation of the Department of Education’s K to 12 program, as well as housing programs and healthcare projects for poor Filipinos.