Funds depleted? Government still has P2 billion in calamity fund

Fallen electric pylon blocks a road while a destroyed truck lay idle along a road in Surigao City, Surigao del norte province, on December 19, 2021, days after super Typhoon Rai devastated the city.

AFP / Ferdinandh Cabrera

MANILA, Philippines — An official of the Office of Civil Defense bared Thursday that the national government’s pool of funds for calamities still stands at P2 billion, contrary to President Rodrigo Duterte's statements that disaster response funds have been depleted.

“We still have a balance of around P2 billion,” OCD Operations Service director Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro told the House transportation panel. “We still have P1 billion, and then another billion given or allocated to local government units.”

“To make the long story short, we still have money available in our disaster funds,” Rep. Isidro Ungab (Davao City) said partly in Filipino during the hearing.

Full Story: https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/12/23/2149731/funds-depleted-government-still-has-p2-billion-calamity-fund