P339-Million 'Ondoy' Funds Missing

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Loren Legarda vowed to investigate the missing P339 million which is part of the P18.4-billion rehabilitation funds allotted by the previous administration to the victims of storm “Ondoy” and typhoon “Pepeng” last year.

During a hearing last Monday, Legarda, chairman of the Senate Committee on Climate Change, said she wanted to determine whether the amount is still intact as the National Disaster coordinating Center (NDCC), the Department of Social Welfare and development (DSWD) and department of education (DepEd) denied having received the appropriation.

Legarda said she will continue the inquiry about these missing funds, vowing to investigate the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the Department of Finance (DoF) to locate the missing budget.

Based on the DBM and DoF records, an estimated P18.4 billion were released for various implementing agencies for the emergency response, relief, and rehabilitation efforts.

It was also discovered that an P18-billion in direct loans were received by the country from World Bank, Spanish and Deutsch bank for the post-disaster rehabilitation and recovery projects for victims of calamities.

Rolly Carandang, Manila Bulletin