Lacson says Cebu ‘first’ to complete storm rehab plan; will visit May 7

Lacson (Inquirer File Photo)

Down to the last barangay in north Cebu areas hit by typhoon Yolanda, there’s data.

The detailed survey of damaged houses, farms, public structures, and displaced people in 15 towns and one city of north Cebu prompted Secretary Panfilo Lacson to commend Task Force Paglig-on for giving a “comprehensive” rehabilitation plan.

He said Cebu province was the “first” to submit its P10.5 billion rehabilitation plan among the six affected provinces which Lacson would endorse to President Aquino without waiting for the other localities.

In their meeting in Manila last Friday, the Presidential Assistant for Recovery and Rehabilitation (PARR) approved Cebu’s revised plan, said Task Force Paglig-on Chief Baltazar Tribunalo.

“If the President will be satisfied after the technical review then it’s all systems go. Hopefully by May, it will receive PNoy’s signature,” said Tribunalo in an phone interview yesterday.

However, it remains to be seen how much of the P10.5 billion requirement will be funded by the national government.

The bulk or P6.6 billion is for shelter and resettlement alone.

Cebu province has proposed earth-block homes costing P70,000 each to replace ruined dwellings.

Lacson emphasized that land acquisition for relcation sites should be the counterpart of the local government.

Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide, Tribunalo and two of Capitol’s consultants for rehabilitation, Carmel Ulanday and Rodrigo Lachica, flew to Manila and met with Lacson last Friday night.

Tribunalo said the rehabilitation plan received “very positive feedback” from Lacson who commended their data gathering and specific details of funding needs, proposed projects, locations and timetables.

Lacson also asked about a difference in figures of the post-disaster needs assessment made by the Office of Civil Defense and the Cebu province rehabilitation plan.

Tribunalo said the Cebu team was able to respond, and reported how coordination meetings were held with regional agencies hosted by the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) 7 to agree on statistics and investment needs.

Lacson said he would attend a May 7 meeting in Cebu City to witness discussion of the OCD and regional offices with the Province Cebu which is aimed at reaching an agreement on statistics in the post-disaster report and the Cebu rehabilitation plan.

In the meeting, Lacson suggested that all projects use geo-tagging technology/ GIS for easy monitoring and generation of maps.

He said the USAID has a P10 million assistance package that could be tapped for an information system to track ongoing and future rehabilitation operations.

Lacson asked Cebu officials to submit a proposal for software and hardware needs for possible funding of P2.5 million for this purpose.

One of the system’s components is a website which will employ geotagging technology and will enable the public to monitor the progress of the projects on site.

It was Tribunalo who requested help in funding to ensure “transparency in the rehabilitation process.”

“It’s all about transparency so that the media and the people can see the progress of the projects,” he told Cebu Daily News.

Tribunalo said the PARR appreciated the details, and how data was quantified and qualified.
“The data came directly from the field, from the local government units and the victims themselves,” he told Cebu Daily News.

Task Force Paglig-on first came up with a P26.8-billion rehabilitation plan but had to revise it following the governor’s request to make it more “realistic.”

The budget for a “typhoon-resilient” house was trimmed from P120,000 to P70,000 by using earthblocks in the design.

Weekly meetings were held with mayors, task force clusters and heads of regional line agencies.

“I can say that all our meetings, consultations and fieldwork bore fruit. Everyone was consulted, especially the victims and how they want this (rehabilitation) to be done,” said Tribunalo.

“In fact, PARR will use it as a template for other provinces who have yet to submit their rehabilitation plans,” he added.

Tribunalo said they will make minor revisions to the plan before it is forwarded to the Office of the President.

“The President is very technical about this. I’m sure he will have a lot of questions that is why we still have to refine,” said Tribunalo.

The second priority of the plan, after shelter and relocation, is livelihood, emergency employment and social development at P1.725 billion.

The investment for shelter alone will require P3.97 billion for the building of 34,000 new houses on-site to replace those totally damaged.

Another P904 million is needed to build new houses on relocation sites, since the original structures stood on no-build zones 40 meters from the shore or in hazardous areas.

The rest of the budget will be used to shoulder costs of acquiring a relocation site, developing it and ensuring it has water supply and sanitation.

Guidelines

Tribunalo said the task force will set guidelines on how the mayors can utilize the funding given by the national government agencies to be used for short term projects.

The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) is downloading P128 million direct to the municipal and city government units for the repair of public offices, he said.

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and Department of Agriculture has released more than P130 million for rehabilitation of damaged marine and aquatic resources.

“We are not idle while waiting for the funding. We’re still continuing work with the clusters and the private sector as of the moment,” he said.