Malacañang wants a bigger calamity fund for 2025 — P31 billion.
Makati 2nd District Rep. Luis Campos Jr. said the proposal was contained in the National Expenditure Program for 2025 submitted by Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman to the House of Representatives last July 29.
“In the 2025 national budget, Malacañang is seeking the sum of P31 billion for the Calamity Fund, or 51 percent higher than this year’s allocation of P20.5 billion,” Campos Jr., vice chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, said on Sunday.
“We are all for enlarging the fund to enable agencies to deliver highly improved emergency aid, relief and rehabilitation services to disaster victims,” the lawmaker said.
Campos Jr. said that P14.7 billion of the P31 billion was for capital outlay, mainly for rebuilding damaged structures while P7.7 billion will be for the Quick Response Fund of eight frontline departments.
The P31 billion also included P1 billion for the People’s Survival Fund (PSF).
“The PSF is a special fund that provides subsidy to climate change adaptation and natural disaster resilience strategies, including, for example, the installation of practical rainwater collectors,” Campos Jr. said.
The PSF is administered by the People’s Survival Fund Board composed of the heads of the Department of Finance, Department of Budget and Management, Department of the Interior and Local Government, National Economic and Development Authority, and the Philippine Commission on Women, along with the vice chairperson of the Climate Change Commission, and one representative each from the scientific community, business sector, and non-government organizations.
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