Typhoon rehab
again with the President tomorrow on where the P billion would be sourced.
The P1 . -billion supplemental budget that you are considering now is one of the funding sources. Additionally, we have savings amounting to P12.1 billion, he told the ouse appropriations committee.
President Aquino had directed his Cabinet yesterday to do everything they could in the short term to speed up the rehabilitation and rebuilding of areas hit by Typhoon olanda.
Aquino presided over a Cabinet meeting yesterday, during which N DA director general Arsenio alisacan presented the olanda ecovery and ehabilitation Plan.
The President’s overarching instructions to the Cabinet were Dapat gawin, kayang gawin, ngayon na hat should be done and can be done, should be done now , presidential spokesman dwin acierda said in a statement.
The plan has three phases to provide immediate assistance to affected areas, expand initiatives and programs in the medium term, and reach full recovery and rehabilitation in the long term, acierda said.
e said the President ap- proved in principle many of the items cited but asked alisacan and other pertinent members of the Cabinet for more specific details before providing formal approval.
arlier, Aquino formed a task force headed by nergy ecretary Jericho Petilla to expedite the rehabilitation and rebuilding of disaster-hit areas.
The Cabinet will meet with the President again tomorrow to present further refinements to the plan, especially on the immediate actions to be taken.
esponding to questions from congressmen, Abad said the P billion is exclusively for areas devastated by Typhoon olanda.
e have separate funding for ohol, amboanga and provinces hit by previous typhoons, he said.
Congressmen are seeking funding for towns and cities affected by the earthquake in ohol and Cebu, Typhoon endong in Cagayan de Oro City and Northern Mindanao, Typhoons anti, Pablo and other recent typhoons, and villages razed by what some of them referred to as the eptember caper of disgruntled elements of the Moro National iberal Front in amboanga City.
ome of the P1 . - billion additional budget would be allotted to these areas.
Abad said Aquino would be flying to ohol today to get a clearer picture of the reconstruction requirements of the province.
e said there is no final rebuilding plan yet and the amount needed has not been determined.
esponding to a question from Nueva ci a ep. strellita uansing, Abad said the President specifically mentioned areas damaged by Typhoon anti in Central uzon a few months ago to be included in the P -billion funding.
Also, the Palace said the Department of Trade and ndustry’s Diskwento Caravan was launched to promote economic activity in the areas devastated by the super typhoon.
Presidential Communications Operations Office ecretary erminio Coloma Jr. said the caravan was aimed at restarting and energizing commercial activities in calamity areas where public markets and retail stores were destroyed.