P208 billion needed for Luzon rehab
AT least P208 billion is needed by both the public and private sectors to ensure full recovery of the country, particularly in Luzon, from the combined onslaught of Typhoons “Ondoy” and “Pepeng”.
This was disclosed in Dagupan on Thursday by Finance Secretary Margarito Teves, chairman of the Special National Public Reconstruction Commission created by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
Teves headed an economic team that conducted a briefing on the country’s post-disaster outlook during a roadshow before members of the Pangasinan and Dagupan Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the banking community and government officials.
He said of the P208 billion, 45 percent or P93.4 billion will be needed by the private sector and the rest by the public sector.
Total damages and losses wrought by the two destructive floods were placed at P206 billion or 2.7 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to Teves.
By their study, Teves said more than 90 percent of the damages and losses were suffered by the private sector.
Based on a report from the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), the biggest damages suffered were on housing at P25.4 billion; businesses, P22.4 billion; and transport, P6.5 billion.
Largest amount of losses, he said, were on businesses at P88.9 billion; agriculture, P47.5 billion; and housing P8.9 billion.
Teves said the commission will implement recovery and reconstruction through the combined efforts of the public and private sectors over a 3-year period.
“We will work together among the various entities, including the local government units, government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs), government financial institutions (GFIs) and social security institutions,” he said.
He added the government need not wait for foreign funding to start the re construction and rehabilitation, pointing out that the Development Bank and the Land Bank of the Philippines have enough money to lend farmers and small businessmen who were victims of the two typhoons.
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Deputy Director Ernando de Leon said small businessmen need no collateral in seeking loans from these two financial institutions.
Undersecretary Laura Pascua of the Department of Budget and Management said rehabilitation of the damaged agriculture already started with the release of funds to the Department of Agriculture to be used in buying seeds and fertilizers for farmers affected by the flood.
Director Leonardo Quitos of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) also presented a profile of the damages in the whole Ilocos Region based on reports from the Regional Disaster Coordinating Council.—LM
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