Malacañang downplayed the news report that the government has P25 billion worth of unused calamity funds amid the government’s mounting expenses for pandemic response.
Instead of being “unused,” Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the amount is merely being kept on stand-by in case of other calamities this year.
Citing the explanation of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), he said “calamity funds can only be released, when the need for it arises.”
“We cannot just release without any reason or justification,” Roque said.
The fund is with the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) for its disposal.
Roque said the figure in the news report was “bloated” since it combined the calamity funds of 2020 and 2021.
He was referring to an article published by the Philippine Daily Inquirer, where it compiled the unreleased calamity funds of the government for 2020 to 2021 amounting to P25.14 billion after former Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Pernia posted a tweet on the supposed “lack of urgency” in handling the pandemic.
“We are still in the month of May, so the budget for 2021 should still not be used because they could be other problems in 2021, where will need [calamity] funds,” Roque stressed.
For 2021, he said there is a P20 billion of budget for the calamity fund.
He explained this is inclusive of P13 billion regular National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund (NDRRMF); P5 billion Marawi Rehabilitation Fund; P2 billion insurance premium for government assets against calamities.
“The OP (Office of the President) approved [the use] of P2,818,792,000. The balance is P15,181,027,000,” Roque said.
He said there is also P8.23 billion of calamity funds used for the identified P35-billion worth of needs in areas affected by typhoons Quinta, Rolly, and Ulysses.
“So we can see that we lack our existing 2021 funds for what is needed as a result of Quinta, Rolly, and Ulysses, which is P31 billion,” Roque said.
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