President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday said he will direct the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to quickly release calamity funds allotted to disaster-inflicted communities due to the onslaught of consecutive typhoons.
“Ang problema lang sa, historically, is that ang government moves slowly especially the national government. So sa ganitong pangyayari, kung mabilisan ninyo, cut the time to something like half or more than.”
Duterte also reiterated that the government is not “negligent” of its duty to provide immediate assistance to victims of typhoons.
“If there’s any na pagkukulang it’s not because of negligence. Sometimes talaga na-o-overload because of the complexity of the job,” he said.
DBM Assistant Secretary Kim De Leon, on the other hand, said the department initially proposed a PHP1.5 billion to replenish depleted calamity funds of local government units in areas affected by Typhoons Quinta and Rolly, particularly in Calabarzon, Mimaropa, and Bicol Regions.
