TYPHOON “Juan” left Dagupan City with P31 million damages worth of damages in agriculture and fisheries, and prompted the evacuation of 219 families consisting of about 2,000 people.

The city could have availed of national assistance and affected families and property-owners would have been entitled to file for calamity loans but those opportunities were lost when the city did not declare a state of calamity.

Mayor Benjamin Lim earlier maintained there was no need to declare the city under a state of calamity because the city government could legally access 70% funds of its standby calamity without such a declaration.

Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez, who was in China when typhoon Juan blew into town, noted, however, that the extent of damage suffered by the city was enough justification to warrant a declaration of a state of calamity in the city just as the provincial government did in declaring Pangasinan under a state of calamity at the height of the typhoon.

The city government has reportedly spent only P9 million from the city’s available calamity fund of P26 million but there were no details on how the fund was distributed.

Fernandez pointed out that the national policy allowing the withdrawal of funds up to 70% of the calamity fund is intended to assist local government units reduce risks from an expected calamity by purchasing equipment, medicines, and relief good, and training personnel to abate the impact of the disaster.

She said she found it unusual that the mayor chose to invoke the particular law in the face of the actual emergency in the city.

Republic Act 10121, or the act institutionalizing the disaster risk reduction and management councils, local government units can spend 70 percent of their calamity funds for pre-disaster preparations.

POLITICS?

Majority of the members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod believed a declaration of a state of calamity should have been made considering the impact of the typhoon in the city.

The members of the majority in the city council led by Councilor Librada Reyna attempted to call for a special session with the purpose of declaring Dagupan under the state of calamity but there were not enough members in town to muster a quorum.

On the other hand, Councilor Jeslito Seen, who was in Manila at that time, said even if there had been a quorum, the SP could not have declared a state of calamity since the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council  (DRRMC) had not submitted a report on the damages and did not submit a recommendation.

Rumors were rife at the time that no declaration was made to prevent re-electionist barangay captains who were close to former Mayor Alipio Fernandez Jr.  from having access to their respective barangay’s calamity fund that would have helped in their re-election.

NO CALAMITY CLAIMS

As ar result of the non-declaration, applications of employees of government and private companies in Dagupan for calamity loans from the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and the Social Security System (SSS) will likely be denied since there was no state of calamity in the city.

Employees cannot invoke the declaration in the province of Pangasinan as basis for their calamity loans since Dagupan is a chartered city and not under the jurisdiction of the provincial government.

And since Dagupan was not placed under a state of calamity, it will not be entitled to any assistance from the national government or international agencies intended for calamity-stricken areas.

Fernandez said the SP will continue to evaluate the conditions and would consider declaring a state of calamity belatedly as it may seem depending on the extent of unresolved emergencies in the city.

UNCOOPERATIVE

Meanwhile, the vice mayor bewailed the refusal of the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) to show her, as the acting mayor of the city from October 25 to 29, a copy of the report detailing number of families in Dagupan assisted in the aftermath of typhoon.

She was simply told that the documents were already submitted to City Administrator Vladimir Mata and refused to provide a copy.

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