Press Release
October 16, 2009

DO NOT POLITICIZE RELIEF EFFORTS - ANGARA

Sen. Edgardo J. Angara has called on the country's different political factions to avoid excessive politicizing of the handling of calamity funds for Pepeng and Ondoy victims.

The P12 Billion calamity fund was approved Wednesday night, after much reservation by some members of the Senate who were worried that the calamity funds might be put to questionable use. They expressed concern over the Senate's move to allocate the calamity fund for the Defense Department's NDCC, contending that a part of the funds may simply end up in someone's election campaign budget.

"This is not in defense of (Defense Sec. Gilbert) Teodoro. This is not to anyone's advantage. Our main priority right now is to release the funds so we can start with overall relief and rehabilitation efforts. We cannot afford to wait another day; we cannot allow the victims to wait another day. This is just not the time to politicize," Angara stressed.

With President's recent signing of the National Public-Private Reconstruction Commission into effect, some have asserted that it blurs the separation of Church and State, and fear that the funds raised by the body will become Teodoro's campaign fund for the 2010 presidential polls.

"It is purely incidental that Sec. Teodoro is the administration's presidential candidate and the sitting Secretary of Defense. It is the Defense Secretary's responsibility to address this issue. At most, his function is just to preside a board of over 20 members to decide on the allocation of funds and determine priority areas�and this board is well-represented both by the public, private and NGO sectors. This fear is far-fetched," Angara explained.

But Angara himself clarified that the questions raised by some members of the Senate over the NDCC or Teodoro's handling of the proposed calamity fund is not politically motivated. He maintained, "This is simply an honest inquiry that seeks to clarify some details of the fund's institutionalization. In fact, everyone in the plenary is very interested to contribute input to improve on the proposal."

To ensure transparency and allow monitoring of the calamity funds, a Congressional Oversight Committee will be formed, composed of members of the Senate and House of Representatives. All recipient agencies are also required to post updates on their website on the disbursement of funds, as well as the progress of their respective relief and rehabilitation efforts.

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