Calamity declaration to release WB funding

THE GOVERNMENT can tap a $500 million loan from the World Bank to finance typhoon relief and repairs to damaged infrastructure once the President declares a state of calamity in affected areas.

“Should the President declare a state of calamity, we will be able to access a $500 million loan from the World Bank at very, very favorable terms and interest rates,” Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said in a news conference on Tuesday.

He said the department has recommended that the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council propose such a declaration.

Republic Act 10121, or the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act, defines a state of calamity as “a condition involving mass casualty and/or major damages to property, disruption of means of livelihoods, roads and normal way of life of people in the affected areas as a result of the occurrence of natural or human-induced hazard.”

The last declaration of a national state of calamity was 2013 after typhoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) devastated the central Philippines.

A state of calamity will trigger a price freeze in basic necessities for 60 days.

It will also allow the granting of no-interest loans by government financing or lending institutions and tapping the calamity fund, which currently has a P103.6-million balance, for the repair of public infrastructure and facilities.

Local government units will also be allowed to enact supplemental budgets for supplies and materials or payment of services to prevent danger to or loss of life or property.

It will also allow the importation and donation of food, clothing, medicine and equipment for relief and recovery, and other disaster management and recovery-related supplies; the authorization of rice imports; and release hazard allowances for public health workers and science and technology personnel.

A state of calamity will remain in force until the President orders it lifted.

Typhoon Ompong (international name: Mangkhut), with winds comparable to those of typhoon Yolanda, hit over the weekend and caused some P14 billion crop and infrastructure damage.

Mr. Dominguez said that the economic managers have yet to evaluate how the typhoon’s damage would affect the country’s growth prospects.

“We are waiting for the final assessment of the crop damage. So we don’t know exactly at this point how much of the crops have been damaged. There will certainly be... a certain amount of infrastructure that has been damaged and very tragically some lives have been lost. We don’t have the total picture at the moment,” he said.

Central bank Deputy Governor Diwa C. Guinigundo meanwhile said that the typhoon damage will not have “generalized effects on supply logistics or even in terms of production.”

In a separate development, the South Korean government offered $300,000 aid for affected regions.

“The Korean people and the Government of the Republic of Korea are deeply saddened by the news of hardship Filipinos are going through, including massive casualties and injuries, as typhoon Mangkhut/Ompong hit the Philippines recently,” the South Korean embassy said in statement yesterday.

“We are confident that the people of the Philippines, under the leadership of President Rodrigo R. Duterte, will recover from the damage soon. To help relieve the suffering of the Filipino communities from the typhoon damages, the Government of the Republic of Korea has decided to provide the Philippines with humanitarian aid of $300,000,” it added. —