Duterte urges Congress to pass P30-B supplemental budget for Taal relief

President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday said he would ask Congress to pass a supplemental budget worth P30 billion to augment the funds needed to aid areas affected by the eruption of Taal Volcano.

Duterte made the pitch as he urged lawmakers to appropriate funds for the construction of massive evacuation centers in disaster-prone areas, especially those facing the Pacific Ocean, the breeding ground of tropical cyclones that barrel through the Philippines each year.

“I will ask Congress to expedite... P30 billion would cover your everything. 'Yung tulong na ninyo sa livestocks pati sa mga bahay,” he said in his speech before evacuees in Sto. Tomas, Batangas.

“Hindi naman natin masiguro ‘yang Taal kung kailan talaga puputok o hindi. In the meantime that we are expecting another eruption, mas mabuti na lang na umpisahan na rin ang evacuation center.”

Duterte also assured the affected residents that the government would act quickly.

“Hindi pangako ‘yon. Trabaho lang ‘yun ng gobyerno. Hindi na kailangan mangako pa kami dito kasi hindi ito haka-hakang politika. Hindi kasali ‘yan. Ang pinag-uusapan dito ‘yung gaano kahirap ang naidulot sa tao dahil sa Taal,” he said.

“Kung nandiyan 'yan, to the last centavo pangako ko dadating 'yan sa inyo.”

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian earlier said the government had P27 billion calamity fund — P16 billion for 2020 and P11 billion carried over from 2019.

The latest available government data valued damage to agriculture and livestock from the Taal eruption at P3 billion.

The damage covered the provinces of Batangas, Cavite, and Laguna, affecting thousands of families taking temporary shelter in evacuation centers.

An Alert Level 4 was raised by state volcanologists over Taal Volcano since the phreatic eruption on January 12, the alert signifying that a hazardous eruption was "imminent." — DVM, GMA News