P1.7B allocated for Naga rehab
The Regional Development Council-7 has allocated P1.788 billion for the rehabilitation and recovery of the landslide-hit area of Naga City.
RDC-7 Chairman Kenneth Cobonpue said the council approved the allocation during its full council meeting yesterday.
The RDC resolution says that the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment conducted by the City of Naga identified the investment requirements for the rehabilitation and recovery of the landslide affected areas in the amount of P1,788,180,000.
Of this amount, P300 million is for infrastructure while P1,086,000 is relocation sites and evacuation centers. Another P401,520,000 is for crosssectoral expenses.
Cobonpue said the rehabilitation budget for 2019 is P461.9 million, which will be taken from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council fund and the Quick Response Fund of national agencies.
For 2020, the P389 million budget for rehabilitation will be submitted for inclusion in the agency’s budget proposal for 2020.
"Some of the amount will be funded also by the LGU of Naga City," Cobonpue said.
The massive landslide that hit sitios Sindulan and Tagaytay in Barangay Tinaan on September 20 killed 78 people and injured 18. Eight others remain missing.
The landslide covered 80.12 hectares and forced 444 families out of their homes.
A total of 1,947 families or 8,091 internally displaced persons had to be moved to 11 evacuation centers.
The RDC resolution also says that the massive landslide also affected the 334-meter road stretch in Sitio Sindulan, electricity post of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines to the Visayan Electric Company, water pipeline of the water distribution network, crops and livestock, among others.
About 380 meters of the portion of Pangdan River were also covered by landslide debris.
The resolution also says that the Mines and Geosciences Bureau had recommended that the elementary and high school buildings in Barangay Cantao-an and the Naga City Jail be moved away from the area because they sit on an area highly susceptible to landslides.