Provincial Risk Reduction Office seeks P166-M budget for 2017

Gov. Hilario Davide III (from left), PDRRMO head Baltazar Tribunalo Jr. and Provincial Board member Christopher Baricuatro are among the members of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (PDRRMC), which held its 3rd quarter meeting yesterday at the Capitol.
(CDN PHOTO/NESTLE SEMILLA)

THE Provincial Risk Reduction Management Council (PDRRMC) yesterday approved the P166-million proposed budget of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (PDRRMO).

Baltazar Tribunalo Jr., PDRRMO head, said during the third quarter meeting of the PDRRMC that the office’s P166-million proposed budget for 2017 would be a 25 percent increase from last year’s P133-million budget.

The PDRRMC approval of the proposed budget is the first step. Next would be the public hearing and then the Provincial Board approval.

With several disasters that hit Cebu, Tribunalo said their office had been left with a budget of only P46.8 million.

In the proposed budget, funds for preparedness is the highest allocation.

Disaster preparedness has P81,350,000 budget. This includes strengthening of Liga sa LDRRMO (Local Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office) sa Sugbo.

Tribunalo said that Cebu is the first province in the country to have such league of LDRRMO, which would be a big help during disasters and calamities.

Also included in the 2017 budget is the prevention and mitigation worth P15 million; for recovery and rehabilitation, the disaster office allocated P18.9 million; and for quick response, P49.8 million.

“With the budget for quick response, we can now maximize — coming from quick response fund — the misting activity, the misting machines, the larvicidal activities of Provincial Health Office (PHO),” Tribunalo said.

The PDRRMC yesterday also discussed the 140 percent increase in dengue cases in the province from January 1 to September 24 this year, where they approved the classification of this year’s surge in dengue cases as a disaster — a move which could bring in the PDRRMO in the province’s fight against dengue, which is led by the Provincial Health Office.