The resolution was already forwarded to the Office of the
Presidential Assistant for Special Concerns (OPASC) headed by Undersecretary
Wendel Avisado, said RDC vice chair and National Economic Development Authority
(NEDA) Regional Director Bonifacio Uy.
“The OPASC has already requested the Bureau of Treasury last month
to provide them an official report of the total amount of Yolanda funds
reverted to the National Treasury from 2014 to present,” Uy said in a phone
interview on Wednesday.
The RDC official said the funds are needed since there are still
remaining rehabilitation concerns that must be addressed, especially on
permanent housing.
Citing report from the Department of Budget and Management, the
NEDA regional chief said about PHP737.24 million of post-Yolanda funds from
2013 to 2017 had been reverted to the Bureau of Treasury.
Also included among reverted budget is the big chunk of PHP18.89
billion 2016 National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund (NDRRMF) that
expired December 2017.
The 2016 allocation was released late in 2016 or early 2017,
giving the agencies less time to procure and obligate the funds within the
year, Uy said.
Primarily, these funds were intended for the departments of
Agriculture, of Tourism, and of Trade and Industry.
The consolidated unspent budget came from calamity fund, NDRRMF,
quick respond fund, automatic and supplemental appropriation, realignments and
savings, regular agency funds, among others.
“These funds were not utilized as some agencies encountered issues
in the procurement of Yolanda projects such as processing of documents and
usufruct agreement,” Uy said.
Since the super typhoon struck in 2013, around PHP146.2 billion
had already been released for post-disaster recovery for all affected areas in
central Philippines.
About 46 percent of the funds or PHP67.1 billion were intended for
Eastern Visayas. (SQM/PNA)
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