(NI NOEL ABUEL)

IPINAIIMBENTARYO ng isang senador ang calamity fund ng National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund (NDRRMC) upang malaman kung may sapat pang pondo para magamit sa darating pang kalamidad sa bansa.

Paliwanag ni Senate Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto, kailangang kumilos ng Senado at magsagawa ng post-earthquake assessment upang malaman kung sapat pa ang calamity fund ngayong taon at sa susunod na taon.

Layon umano nito na matulungan ang mga pamilyang naapektuhan ng paglindol sa Southern Mindanao.

“We should conduct an inventory of funds. There may still be money left in this year’s Calamity Fund for relief operations, to sustain the day-to-day needs of victims, but reconstruction would require bigger funding,” sabi ni Recto.

“Financing-wise, there is a big difference between buying grocery items and rebuilding damaged roads.

The truth is that typhoons and earthquakes do not only rearrange the lay of the land, but also reconfigure budget numbers,” dagdag pa nito.

Inihalimbawa pa nito ang paggalaw ng presyo ng langis na makakaapekto sa budget subalit hindi sa malaking kalamidad tulad ng lindol na makakapagbago sa paggastos mg pamahalaan.

“A movement in oil prices and inflation rate may, for example, alter the budget but not in an intensity that a big calamity, like the earthquake which rocked Mindanao, can trigger spending adjustments,” ayon pa dito.

Aniya, ngayong taon ang calamity fund ng NDRRMC ay nasa P25.1 bilyon mula sa P20 bilyon at P5.1 bilyon na natira sa 2018 national budget.

“What is needed now is a fact-based, ground-validated damage assessment checked against available and proposed appropriations. If funding does not match the needs, then Congress has no choice but to augment,” giit nito.