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How government will spend P167.86B for Yolanda rehabilitation


It has been a year since super Typhoon Yolanda ripped through the central part of the Philippines, claiming the lives of more than 6,000 individuals and leaving billions of pesos worth of damages in infrastructure, agriculture and properties.

On October 29, two weeks before the first anniversary of Yolanda, President Benigno Aquino III signed an 8,000-page document dubbed as “Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Recovery Plan” or CRRP.

Consisting of eight volumes, the CRRP outlines specific projects, programs, and activities (PPAs) envisioned to bring forth rehabilitation and recovery to the areas devastated by the supertyphoon.

Based on a summary provided to GMA News Online by the Office of the Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation & Recovery (OPARR), the total funding requirement for the CRRP’s implementation is P167.86 billion ($4 billion). This will be primarily sourced by the government from its national budget.

The identified projects, programs and activities under the CRRP are divided into four areas or “clusters” – resettlement, infrastructure, livelihood and social services.

CRRP budget breakdown (figures in billion peso)


Requiring the biggest funding is the resettlement cluster with P75.67 billion, followed by the infrastructure cluster with P35.14 billion, livelihood cluster with P30.63 billion and social services cluster with P26.40 billion.

There are a total of 18,400 projects, programs, and activities (PPAs) indentified in the CRRPs which will be implemented in 171 cities and municipalities in 14 provinces in six regions of Visayas affected by Super Typhoon Yolanda.

The 14 provinces are Palawan, Masbate, Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Cebu, Leyte, Biliran, Eastern Samar, Western Samar, Southern Leyte and Dinagat Islands.

Here are some of the programs, projects and activities under the four clusters:

Resettlement cluster (P75.67B)

This involves the relocation of approximately 205,128 families from danger zones into safe areas.

Of the 205,128 permanent housing units in safe zones, the government aims to finish  155,128 before the end of Aquino’s term on June 2016.

For the remaining 50,000 units, construction may be undertaken through community-driven projects by the next administration.

Of the 155,128 units that the government targets to finish in 2016, the OPARR said 1,252 units have already been completed even before Aquino signed the CRRP, while construction of 37,500 units have already been bidded out and awarded.

Bidding for the construction of 7,377 more units to begin in November 2014. These housing units are set to be completed one year from the awarding of the projects.

Construction of another 43,171 units is scheduled for bidding around November or December 2014.

Infrastructure cluster (P35.14B)

This includes:

  • repair of all damaged barangay health stations, LGU hospitals, rural health units and DOH facilities (100% completed)
  • repair and construction of national roads (30% completed as against target); damaged bridges (57% completed); flood control structures (37.4% completed); new classrooms (51.7% completed); sea ports (39% completed); airports (88% completed); municipal halls (88% completed); civic centers (82% completed); and public markets (79% completed).
  • repair of all electric distribution systems (100% completed)
  • reconstruction of post-harvest facilities and irrigation systems (100% completed); construction/repair of farm-to-market roads (86% completed); national irrigation systems (77% completed); and communal irrigation systems (45% completed)

Livelihood cluster (P30.63B)

This includes:
  • provision and repair of fishing bancas. A total of 30,186 fishing boats and 13,909 marine engines to be distributed
  • provision and repair of farm implements. About 14,000 seaweed farm implements, propagules and nurseries to be distributed
  • continuation of the Cash for Building Livelihood Assets (CBLA) program, wherein, one working age member of poor families will be given a cash equivalent to 75 percent of the prevailing minimum wage in exchange for a 10 day-work period, for the purpose of rebuilding livelihood assets destroyed by Yolanda

Social services cluster (P26.40B)

This includes:
  • Distribution of 6.47 million textbooks and learning materials
  • Distribution of 1,540 medical kits and deployment of 233 midwives and 18 doctors
  • Distribution of iron supplements to 115,432 pregnant women and 115,508 poor postpartum women
  • Family planning services for women of reproductive age estimated at 135,089 in number
  • Continuous provision of Micronutrient Powder (MNP) to children age six months to two years old as well as oral rehydration salt and zinc supplements to children with diarrhea.
 
Timetables

With the principle “Building Back Better and Safer”, the OPARR said the projects under CRRP “aim not only to restore pre-Yolanda demographics, but to raise the quality of life beyond the pre-Yolanda status quo.”

The implementation phase of the PPAs was categorized into short-term, medium-term and long-term.

Short-term PPAs, will be implemented within the current year. The OPARR said short-term PPAs are usually those that aim to provide for basic needs and social services to affected communities “designed to restore a state of normalcy in daily life.”

Medium-term PPAs will be implemented in 2015 and 2016. The PPAs under the medium-term implementation were “designed to enhance community resilience to disasters of all kinds, to integrate concepts and principles on disaster prevention and mitigation, and to instill overall disaster preparedness.”

Long-term phase PPAs are those whose implementation periods go beyond the term of the current administration. — JST, GMA News
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