Malacañang OKs release of P227M Guimaras fund

September 15th, 2007 by Site Administrator

THE REHABILITATION program of Guimaras is expected to go full swing before the year ends, an official close to President Arroyo said.

Secretary Rafael Coscolluela, former Presidential Assistant for Western Visayas who was incident commander of the defunct Task Force Solar I Oil Spill, announced that Malacañang has approved the release of P227.73 million for the purpose upon the recommendation of then National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) chairman Norberto Gonzales.

During a recent exit briefing with some members of the media and members of the task force, Coscolluela, who now sits as administrator of the Sugar Regulatory Administration, said line government agencies whose proposals were approved can soon expect their notices of cash allocation.

Of the P227.73 million, the Department of Agriculture (DA) was allotted P35 million; Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), P55 million; Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), P65.73 million; Department of Health (DOH), P22 million; and the University of the Philippines System, P50 million.

The fund will be taken from an approved P867-million supplemental budget passed by the 13th Congress intended for Guimaras’ rehabilitation.

Coscolluela said the NDCC through the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) in Western Visayas now bears the responsibility to monitor, evaluate and report the implementation of all the rehabilitation programs in Guimaras.

“President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo doesn’t want government money wasted and misused,” he emphasized.

He said the OCD has to do the balancing role of seeing where the money goes, how much was released and for the program to be free from excessive partisan interest. (Panay News, September 15, 2007)