Press Release
November 14, 2013

Trillanes seeks to tap Malampaya Fund for rehabilitation
of disaster-stricken areas

Senator Antonio "Sonny" F. Trillanes files a bill creating a National Calamity Recovery, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Fund, which shall provide substantial financial resources that will support the intermediate and long-term reconstruction and rehabilitation of public infrastructure and the rebuilding of homes and communities in the parts of the country affected by aforementioned and similar calamities.

Trillanes said that: "The Philippines has been battered by a series of natural and man-made disasters this year, starting from the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) Siege in Zamboanga City; the 7.2 magnitude earthquake which devastated the provinces of Bohol and parts of Cebu and other Visayan provinces; and the strongest tropical cyclone on record to make landfall - Typhoon Yolanda - which hit the Visayas, Palawan and other provinces."

"While amendments to the 2014 General Appropriations Act (NAA) are being proposed to include significant amounts of funds which the Executive Department can immediately use to respond to the crises, there is an imperative need to provide more substantial funds and resources, and create a legal framework which will support the intermediate and long-term recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts for the communities damaged and devastated by the series of calamities," Trillanes added.

Under Senate Bill No. 1917 or the National Calamity Rehabilitation Act, a sum of Fifty Billion Pesos will be appropriated for the said purpose. It will be sourced from the net government share in the proceeds of Service Contract No. 38 authorized under Section 8 of Presidential Decree (P.D.) No. 910, otherwise known as the Malampaya Fund.

SBN 1917 also seeks to create a National Calamity Recovery, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Commission which will oversee the prioritization of programs and projects to be funded and to oversee the proper and optimal utilization of the Fund.

"The Malampaya Fund, which has a current balance of P 137.3 Billion, was created for the purpose of financing energy resource exploration, development and exploitation programs and projects of Government. However, empirical data show that it has not always been used for the said purpose. This is an opportune time to legislate a new measure to harness and utilize these funds for the benefit of our people, particularly for the purpose of creating a critical resource to help our people and our country recover from the recent series of calamities," Trillanes explained.

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