October 2, 2009

Lend a helping hand.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) today called on all local government units (LGUs) that were not affected by the recent typhoon to support and extend financial assistance to LGUs declared as calamity areas, even as the Department urged them to make the necessary preparations for Typhoon “Pepeng”.

“In this time and hour of need, LGUs that were spared from the wrath of Ondoy should extend a helping hand to those LGUS that were severely affected for lying directly in the path of the said typhoon,” DILG Acting Secretary Melchor P. Rosales said, adding that, “We should all work together and learn from our lessons from “Ondoy” so that we will be ready to deal with “Pepeng”.

Last Saturday, Typhoon Ondoy dumped heavy rains in Metro Manila and surrounding areas of Luzon, submerging most of the national capital region with up to six meters (20 feet) of water.  Around 293 people were killed, thousands of families were left homeless, and more than P108.9 million worth of infrastructure and crops were damaged.

In a directive to all local chief executives of local governments not affected by Typhoon Ondoy, Rosales strongly encouraged them to extend financial support and other necessary assistance to concerned LGUs in calamity areas and to prepare for the onslaught of “Pepeng”.

The areas declared under the state of calamity are: all LGUs in the National Capital Region; Mountain Province, Ifugao and Benguet (CAR): Pangasinan, La Union and Ilocos Sur (Region I); Isabel, Quirino and Nueva Vizcaya (Region II); Aurora, Nueva Ecija, Zambales, Pampanga, Bulacan, Tarlac and Bataan (Region III); Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon (Region IV-A); Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro and Marinduque (Region IV-B); and Catanduanes, Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur (Region V).

The DILG Acting Secretary said that Sections 5 (a) of the Rules and Regulations Implementing RA 8185 or An Act Amending Section 324 (D) of the Local Government Code states that LGUs may allocate or use a portion of the 5% calamity fund to other affected areas on condition that the said areas are declared as under the state of calamity by the sanggunian concerned.

He said the same law also provides that a portion of the calamity fund may also be  used by the LGU concerned to provide financial assistance to other LGUs whose area or portion thereof had been declared under the state of calamity by its sanggunian. 

Furthermore, the calamity fund can be utilized for the relief, reconstruction, rehabilitation and other works or services in connection with the calamities which may occur during the budget year.

Rosales explained that the assistance that relief operations refer to activities undertaken to provide emergency assistance to victims of calamity through the provision of temporary shelter and relief goods, while  rehabilitation is the restoration to the former living conditions of the community affected by the calamity.  On the other hand, reconstruction includes rebuilding, repair or replacement of public facilities damaged during the calamity, while other works and services include medical services, repair of equipment and financial assistance to calamity victims, and those essential to disaster control and management.

He said that under the Local Government Code, “a supplemental budget may also be enacted in times of public calamity by way of budgetary realignment to set aside appropriations for the purchase of supplies and materials which are exceptionally urgent  or absolutely indispensable to prevent imminent danger to, or loss of life or property in the jurisdiction of the LGU or in other areas declared in a state of calamity by the President.”  

In his directive, the DILG Acting Secretary also directed the DILG regional directors to extend technical and appropriate assistance to LGUs to effect the financial assistance to affected LGUs, and to submit weekly reports on the actions undertaken by the regional office and the supporting local governments on a weekly basis.