The President has approved a budget of P19 billion for the government’s mitigation measures to combat the ill effects of El Niño, Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said.
Some P6.6 billion has already been included in the government’s budget for this year, while the remaining P12.4 billion will be sourced from government savings and spent for El Niño-related programs next year.
“We have the money already for this, identified by our budget secretary. Roughly P6.6 billion is in the current budget and the rest will be sourced from the savings, [such as] savings from bids or projects that have been bid [out] and [were] cheaper than the initial amount,” Balisacan said.
Apart from the budget, Balisacan also said the El Niño Task Force has recommended the additional importation of 300,000 metric tons (MT) to 400,000 MT of rice in the second quarter.
The government is already expecting the arrival of 500,000 MT of rice in the first quarter. However, El Niño has the potential to cut the country’s rice production next year.
Balisacan said El Niño is expected to peak between March and May next year. This makes the importation of rice necessary since, apart from the actual rice requirements, the government still needs to maintain a 45-day buffer stock.
“I estimated that if things would not improve or there would be no major changes ahead we would be seeing the need to import 1.3 million MT for the second quarter of 2016. Now, with the new numbers, we don’t need that much of import now. We probably need to import around 300,000 to 400,000 MT for two things,” Balisacan said.
“One, as I said earlier, the production is not likely to be as bad as initially estimated, even the new data. second, we have put in place appropriate program for the RAIN, or the Roadmap to Address the Impact of El Niño, and part of the program is to maximize the opportunities for increasing production in area where there is still, there will be water supply and not so badly affected by the drought or the dry spell,” he added.
Balisacan said the government will implement cash-for-work programs, which are estimated to cost P2.9 billion this year and P7.3 billion in the first semester of next year.
The cash-for-work programs will be implemented by the National Irrigation Administration (NIA); departments of Public Works and Highways; Labor and Employment; Trade and Industry and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.
Apart from these programs, the government will also be allocating some P3.75 billion for water management, particularly for farm production. Balisacan said P1.75 billion will be spent by the Department of Agriculture, the NIA, and the Department Environment and Natural Resources in the remaining months of this year. The bulk or P2 billion is allocated for the first semester of 2016.
Further, Balisacan said the Department of Social Welfare and Development will also be introducing food stamps to farmers or those in allied industries that may also be affected by the drought. This intervention, he said, will require a budget of P1.3 billion for the remaining months of 2015 and P1.9 billion for the first semester of 2016.
P10-billion disaster fund
Malacañang has assured that over P10 billion in standby funds are still available for quick release to bankroll the government’s immediate postdisaster response in areas that could be hit by typhoons in the last two weeks of 2015.
Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma Jr. told reporters that Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad gave the assurance, even as the Aquino administration braces for the relief and rehabilitation efforts it is expected to mount in the aftermath of other weather anomalies likely to affect the country before the year-end.
“According to Secretary Abad, we still have a balance of more than 4 billion in the calamity fund and savings of at least P6 billion more that can be used for relief and rehabilitation purposes,” Coloma said.
Coloma added that in the 2016 budget, which the Palace expects to approved soon, “there is a provision of P19 billion in the calamity fund.”
“Ang ginagamit ngayon ay ’yung mga quick-response funds ng mga kagawaran natin. Ina-augment kaagad ng DBM [Department of Budget and Management] para ma-release ’yung quick-response funds at makatulong kaagad sa ating mga kababayan,” the Palace official said.
He disclosed that President Aquino had been receiving field reports directly from concerned local officials, but these still need to be validated in order to provide the appropriate government response. He said they are now waiting for the reports from Mindoro island.
As part of standard procedures of the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council, he added, it first needs to do a rapid assessment of the situation.
(With Butch Fernandez)