Senators seek budget for victims of Juan

Senators Francis Pangilinan and Ralph Recto on Friday sought a budget allocation for the victims and infrastructures that were damaged by Typhoon Juan. Pangilinan, chairman of the Senate committee on agriculture and fisheries, called on legislators to enact a supplemental budget for agriculture after at least P7.55 billion worth of crops, livestock, poultry, and fisheries were damaged by Juan. "The calamity fund for 2010 is nearly depleted. We must act swiftly and allocate the needed funds to ensure that rehabilitation isn't hampered by lack of funds," he said in a statement on Friday. He said even the combined P5-billion calamity fund for 2011 and the P2-billion calamity fund for 2010 won't be "sufficient" to recover from the damages brought by Juan. "Without the funds, rehabilitation efforts will be meaningless and our people's suffering will not be abated. The sooner we allocate funds, the sooner the sooner our countrymen can rise back on their feet," he said. Recto, who chairs the Senate committee on ways and means, suggested that the government draw "emergency" funding from savings from interest debt payments and the remaining funds from this year’s conditional cash transfer (CCT) program. He said the savings from debt interest payments is triggered by the peso’s continuous appreciation, with the government standing to save about P13 billion this year due to a strengthening peso. He said interest payments this year would only cost P314 billion from the programmed P327 billion because of the higher value of peso compared to last year. He added that some banks have predicted the peso further appreciating by the year-end. He explained that for every one peso appreciation, about P2.5 billion is generated as savings from debt interest payments. With the peso treading the P43 level against the dollar, he said the government stands to gain P10.2 billion in savings. “Savings from interest payment could be used to supplement the relief-assistance plan for typhoon Juan victims," he said. Recto also said that the government could “free" up to P20 billion from the unprogrammed accounts in the budget next year by actually funding it. He noted, however, that only 50 percent of the P20 billion “funded" unprogrammed outlay should be used for continuous typhoon rehabilitation while the other half should be used to prop up the government’s revenue targets. - VVP, GMANews.TV