The President has declared a state of calamity in six regions affected by Typhoon Odette (international name Rai) which automatically means imposition of price controls, tight monitoring of supply and prices of basic goods and services and fasttracking of rehabilitation and repair works of damaged facilities and installations.
WITH Western, Central and Eastern Visayas along with MIMAROPA (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan), Northern Mindanao and CARAGA Administrative Region placed under a state of calamity by President Duterte, this would mean price controls and strict monitoring of supply and prices, and hastening of delivery of relief goods and services to those affected by typhoon by typhoon Odette.
Typhoon Odette (international name Rai) battered these regions with heavy downpours and gusty winds for the entire weekend last week but the President had to wait for the complete updates on the damage to crops and properties and on lost lives before making his decision.
Widespread devastation
The President said the declaration of a state of calamity effectively carries with it controlling the prices of goods and commodities in areas where supplies have dwindled due to widespread devastation.
Cabinet Secretary and spokesman Karlo Alexei B. Nograles said the President only declared a state of calamity in the six regions on Tuesday because he waited for the assessment of the damage caused by Rai, locally known as Odette.
“Before the declaration, we need to have a full assessment of the extent of damage done by the typhoon,” Nograles said at a televised news briefing on Wednesday.
Damage
As of yesterday, the government estimated that damage to infrastructure reached P585.8 million, while agriculture damage and losses hit P2.6 billion.
Several local governments affected by the typhoon were allowed to declare a state of calamity “within their jurisdiction” even without the President’s order, he added.
Budget Undersecretary Tina Rose Marie Canda said at the same briefing that at least P6 billion of the P10-billion typhoon response funds promised by the President would come from the proposed P5.024-trillion national budget for 2022, which is expected to be signed by the Chief Executive on December 28.
It will be “available in a couple of days once the GAA or the General Appropriations Act is signed for 2022,” she said.
Canda said P2 billion of the P10-B promised funds are already available under the government’s calamity fund, while another P2 billion would come from the President’s contingency fund.
Depleted coffers
Meanwhile, the President reiterated his earlier claim that pandemic response efforts have already depleted public coffers, which is being contested by civil society groups.
“I am really worried because, let me be frank to the public, our money here in the Philippines is depleted, even coping up with the growing expenses for the typhoon victims,” Mr. Duterte said at the Tuesday meeting.
Nograles clarified in his regular news conference that the government still has money to spend for the pandemic response and Typhoon Odette.
“When the President made those statements, it was, remember, in the context of informing the Filipino nation, our fellow Filipinos that we really faced a lot of challenges in terms of pandemic response, and we have spent a lot for it,” he said.
DRRM Act
The law on the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management defines a state of calamity as “a condition involving mass casualty and/or major damage to property, disruption of means of livelihoods, roads and normal way of life of people in the affected areas as a result of the occurrence of natural or human-induced hazard.”
The declaration allows authorities to impose price caps on basic and prime commodities and mandates them to stop overpricing, profiteering and hoarding of food, medicines and fuel.
Whenever there is a declaration of a state of calamity or emergency, prices of basic necessities shall be placed under automatic price control at their prevailing prices for 60 days or until “lifted sooner by the President,” according to Republic Act No. 7581.
The law defines the prevailing price as “the average price at which any basic necessity has been sold in a given time within a month from the occurrence” of any calamity or emergency.
Small-scale looting
Bohol Governor Arthur Yap earlier said there have been small-scale looting incidents in his province amid growing hunger. He warned that the incidents could worsen if hunger is not addressed.
“Partly, the expeditious deployment of relief goods, with more funds and price controls, would fundamentally address these,” Ricafort said.
He said the declaration would also help expedite the release of insurance claims on damaged properties and justify the release of various calamity loans and assistance offered by government instrumentalities, including its controlled corporations and financial institutions, to individuals and businesses.
P10-B funding
Malacañang is eyeing to create a P10-billion fund for rehabilitation and relief operations in areas devastated by Typhoon “Odette” (international code name Rai).
Nograles said President Duterte decided to increase the initial P2 billion allocation he committed for the said purpose days after concerned agencies reported the extent of the damage caused by Odette.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) initially pegged the cost of damages to infrastructure and agriculture in Visayas and Mindanao to just over P343 million.
Relief aid
Duterte visited local government units (LGU), which were hit by Odette, including Leyte, Bohol, and Cebu, and Negros Island over the weekend.
He ordered concerned government agencies to provide food packs and water and shelter assistance for families affected by Typhoon Odette.
In its latest data, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) reported that over 2.3 million people in 4,295 barangays were affected by Typhoon Odette.
It noted the government was already able to provide P18.2 million worth of aid to the said typhoon victims.
Slow pace
Labor coalition Nagkaisa scored what it said was the slow pace of the distribution of relief aid to affected communities.
It urged the concerned agencies to fast-track the delivery of the said assistance and to convene the National Tripartite Industrial Peace Council so the needs of displaced workers could also be addressed.
Market monitoring
Nograles said the President also ordered the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to monitor price hikes for some basic goods and now in-demand items such as generator sets, which are now reportedly being sold at twice the usual price in the typhoon-hit areas.
Duterte also gave instructions for the clearing of roads and highways in the affected areas as well as the construction of the Kabankalan airstrip in Negros to facilitate the delivery of relief in the areas hit by Odette.
He reiterated his order for the immediate restoration of electricity and communication services in the said areas.
In a television interview, Acting Information and Communication Secretary Emmanuel “Manny” R. Caintic said they will try to bring back communication lines in typhoon-hit areas, particularly Siargao, Surigao, and Dinagat Island, before the end of the month.
Finding ways
A lawmaker on Tuesday urged the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the Department of Finance (DOF) to find ways to replenish the calamity funds between now and until the 2022 national budget allocations are downloaded to agencies and local government units.
Deputy Speaker Bernadette Herrera said national agencies must give up a huge chunk of their unspent funds and savings to enable DBM and DOF to gather more resources for disaster response in the aftermath of Typhoon Odette.
Herrera, along with Albay Rep. Joey Salceda said Odette is yet another reminder and clarion call to establish the Department of Disaster Resilience (DDR) and update the National Building Code (NBC), saying the DDR and an updated NBC will make disaster adaptation and mitigation happen.
“Every day we delay on these necessary legislative actions means billions of property damage, lives lost and resulting in inflation and shortages in basic commodities,” Herrera said.
Urgent legislations
“The DDR and NBC deserve urgent legislative action. Disaster adaptation and mitigation are the only viable solutions to the predicament of our country as being disaster-prone,” Herrera added.
For his part, Salceda renewed his call for the creation of the DDR, saying that “nowhere in the Philippines can now be considered safe from natural disasters with climate change” as Odette strikes regions “not usually visited by typhoons.”
“Northern Mindanao and Central Visayas aren’t areas that are used to typhoons. Bicol and the Waray regions are. As a result, they are structurally and culturally as used to typhoon preparations as Bicol and Eastern Visayas are,” he said.
“This emphasizes the fact that we can no longer say that one area of the country is typhoon-proof. The climate has changed. Our strategies for dealing with disasters must change too,” Salceda added.
Permanent evac centers
Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte, meanwhile, called on Congress to immediately act on his proposal to build permanent evacuation centers, with priority given to calamity-prone areas.
He underscored the urgency of the passage of the proposal in light of the recent onslaught in the southern and central Philippines of this year’s strongest typhoon so far to hit the country that has displaced some 400,000 families.
Villafuerte also expressed the hope that part of the P4-billion fund that the President thus far committed for relief efforts to about 400,000 displaced families in the Visayas and Mindanao following the destruction wrought by Typhoon Odette would include the construction of such permanent evacuation sites.
Tags: #Duterte, #Stateofcalamityin6regions, #TyphoonOdette, #pricecontrols, #climate