Taal Commission to improve financial aid for calamity victims –Vilma Santos

Batangas Representative Vilma Santos-Recto believed that her proposed Taal Commission would facilitate the increase in financial aid for individuals affected by the eruption of Taal Volcano.

In a Dobol B sa News TV interview aired on GMA News TV on Sunday, Santos-Recto explained that the P30-billion supplemental budget that President Rodrigo Duterte requested Congress to pass, as well as the calamity funds of affected local government units, were not enough to meet the needs of the victims of the Taal Volcano eruption.

She pointed out that it could take up to four years before the lives of the Taal-affected individuals could return to normal.

"Kahit sabihin niyo na nagpapasalamat kami sa dami ng donasyon na nagbibigay, sapat yun sa ngayon. Tatlong beses kumakain sa isang araw, pangangailangan sa pagtulog, inumin. Pero kung pangmahabaan na ang pag-uusapan, hindi sasapat yun," said Santos-Recto.

Her proposed Taal Commission would thus oversee the relief, rehabilitation, and assistance for Taal-affected communities.

"Ito ay para merong assurance yung pondo na pwede pang i-release na P50 billion to P100 billion just for Taal alone," the representative added.

Santos-Recto said that through the Taal Commission, the financial aid for the Taal victims could come in tranches - P30 billion for the first year and P10 billion for the next two years.

The Taal Commission, she added, would only be in operation until the lives of the residents of Taal-affected areas were back to normal.

"Parang yung ginawa rin ito noon [sa] Pinatubo. Nagkaroon din sila ng Pinatubo Commission na talagang malaki ang naitulong. At nung naging stable naman na ang pamumuhay ng mga cabalen natin noon, sadya namang in-abolish na rin ang commission na yun. Ganun din ngayon sa Taal," she said.

Santos-Recto authored the two resolutions the House of Representatives adopted last Wednesday during its out-of-town session in Batangas City targeted at helping individuals and communities affected by the Taal Volcano eruption.

She also authored House Bill 5998 which allocated a P30-billion supplemental budget for the relief and rehabilitation efforts for the victims of the calamity.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology on Sunday announced that it had downgraded the alert on Taal Volcano to Level 3, signifying a "decreased tendency towards hazardous eruption" by the volcano.

It noted, however, that the lowering of the Taal's alert level did not mean that the volcano's unrest had ended or that a possible hazardous eruption had disappeared. — Erwin Colcol/DVM, GMA News