Funds to Rehabilitate CdeO & Iligan

RR Files Bill to Appropriate Funds for CdeO & Iligan

Congressman Rufus B. Rodriguez of the 2nd District of Cagayan de Oro has filed a bill in congress, appropriating the sum of two billion pesos (p2,000,000,000.00) as supplemental appropriation for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Cagayan de Oro City and Iligan City which suffered devastation brought about by typhoon Sendong last December 16-17, 2011. The bill is numbered as HB No. 5663. The destruction brought by Sendong has prompted President Benigno S. Aquino III to issue Proclamation No. 303 declaring a state of National Calamity.

In his Explanatory Note, Rodriguez quoted from the report of the National Disaster and Risk Reduction management Council (NDRRMC) that said that the cost of infrastructure and agricultural damage as of the moment amounts to P1,143,671,975 already. Of this amount, infrastructure damage amounts to P1,106,556,000 and agricultural damage amounts to P37,115,975.

In Cagayan de Oro alone, P775,000,000 worth of roads, bridges and other infrastructures were damaged while P9,900,000 worth of health facilities.

These numbers are projected to increase as the debris are cleared and more search and rescue operations are conducted.

As a result Cagayan de Oro and Iligan City need to be rehabilitated in order for our brothers and sisters in Mindanao to be able to recover from this tragedy and start their lives anew. In the short term, there is a need to provide basic necessities to the evacuees including food and non-food items and a way to give them access to proper hygiene. Also, debris clean up is a priority as well as provisions for temporary shelter before school and classes resume. From there, there is a need to conduct an in depth assessment and analysis to look into early recovery and rehabilitation concerns and start the rebuilding process and the placement and strengthening of early warning procedures and preparedness on the issues of zoning and identification of possible relocation sites, he added.

The HOR is expected to tackle the bill when session resumes on January 16, 2012.