MANILA – The Philippines said yesterday it might resort to more borrowing to raise 12 billion pesos (€174 million) in relief funds approved by congress, as the president created a panel to oversee reconstruction of typhoon-hit areas.
The move came as the UN’s emergency relief co-ordinator, John Holmes, said its appeal for $74 million (€50 million) to help flood victims had raised only $19 million so far.
Disaster agencies said at least 650 people died and nearly five billion pesos worth of infrastructure was destroyed by floods and landslides due to heavy rains brought by two typhoons that hit the country since September 26th.
About 18.4 billion pesos in crops and fisheries were lost due to the typhoons, one of which hit the country’s main rice-producing areas.
The damage to rice output made up nearly 13 per cent of the country’s projected fourth-quarter harvest, the latest report from the agriculture department showed.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo created a new body yesterday tasked to oversee typhoon rehabilitation efforts, ordering the group to ask the UN and World Bank to conduct a pledging session to seek foreign aid.
“I signed an executive order creating a special national public-private sector reconstruction commission to undertake a study on the causes, costs and actions to be taken in the wake of typhoons and seek fresh aid to fund reconstruction,” Ms Arroyo said at a cabinet meeting.
The UN has sent recovery specialists to devastated areas to conduct post-disaster assessment, which will form the basis of the government’s rehabilitation plan.
“We are now working jointly with the government to assess the needs in the area,” Mr Holmes told reporters in Manila.– (Reuters)