The government has completed the P170.9-billion master rehabilitation plan for areas ravaged by Super Typhoon Yolanda nearly nine months ago.
Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery Panfilo Lacson turned over a copy of the plan to President Benigno Aquino 3rd on Friday during the commemoration of the fifth death anniversary of his mother, former president Corazon Aquino.
The plan, which is 8,000 pages or eight volumes thick, covers all aspects of rehabilitation, including social services, livelihood, resettlement and infrastructure, Lacson told reporters.
It also addresses gender equality, disaster preparedness, climate change adaptation, and other environmental concerns, he said.
Lacson said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has allotted P137 billion that can be “front-loaded” in 2014 and 2015.
The supplemental budget previously passed by Congress and pork barrel forgone by legislators form part of the available P137 billion, he said.
Lacson said his office is only waiting for the President to approve “the residual amount of P36 billion.”
Once the DBM has front-loaded the funds to the implementing agencies, the next step is for the agencies to “take center stage in the next phase in order to rebuild the communities and improve the lives of the survivors,” he added.
Aquino has so far approved the rehab plan for several areas, including Leyte, Samar, Cebu, Iloilo, and Eastern Samar.
Lacson said he is expecting that 80 percent to 85 percent of the projects would be completed by the time Aquino steps down in 2016.
He said that he will recommend that capable LGUs be allowed to be given the funds and undertake the projects themselves to speed up rehabilitation.
Lacson said no funds under the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) were used for the recovery projects.
The plan came almost nine months after the typhoon hit. Lacson explain that it was not easy consolidating the plan.