Foreign donors pledge funds for rehab efforts

The Philippines is hoping to raise huge funds from the donor community and private sectors until 2012 to finance reconstruction and recovery efforts following the disasters of tropical storm Ondoy and typhoon Pepeng. Manila is seeking P207 billion, about 2.7 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, to fund its rehabilitation and recovery projects following the damages and losses caused by the twin calamities. Leading the government team were President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Finance Secretary Margarito Teves while Manuel V. Pangilinan, chairman of telecommunications giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and holding firm Metro Pacific Investments Corp., headed the private sector group. Teves told reporters that the donor community committed to grant the Philippine $3 billion or P141 billion worth of loans, mostly with easy terms than those given to commercial borrowings. "We are pleased with the broad indication of support by our development partners that reached $3 billion," Teves said. Bulk of the amount would come from Manila-based Asian Development Bank, while other sources include World Bank, United Nations and the Japanese government. For its counterpart funding, the government would provide about $2 billion or P94 billion, mostly coming from government financial institutions such as Land Bank of the Philippines, Development Bank of the Philippines and government-owned and controlled firms including the Home Mutual Development Fund or Pag-IBIG Fund and the National Development Co. The private sector, meanwhile, has yet to provide a detail about how much it will chip in for the rehabilitation efforts. "Together with available funding from the private sector of about $2 billion plus private sector efforts through the Philippine Disaster Recovery Foundation of the private sector, we are confident that we can have enough funds to meet the requirements for the country's recovery and reconstruction," Teves said. The Special National Public Reconstruction Commission was earlier created by the President to raise funds for recovery projects. Ondoy hit Metro Manila with an unusually massive amount of rainfall and caused severe floodings, while Pepeng battered most of Northern Luzon, main source of the island’s vegetable and rice needs. - GMANews.TV