Relief NGOs Oppose DND-led Disaster Management Council
Say P370M disaster funds unaccounted for

Disaster relief NGOs in the Philippines try to fill the void that remain unaddressed by government calamity agencies and sometimes, according to the United Nations itself, more effectively. Thus when a House bill seeks to place them directly under a new disaster management council headed by the defense secretary, they cry foul. They also want the defense department to explain why some P370 million of disaster funds remain unaccounted for.

By Alexander Martin Remollino
Bulatlat.com

Non-government organizations (NGOs) involved in disaster response and  prominent personalities in the academe, united under the umbrella of Task Force: Community-Based Disaster Management  (TF: CBDM), are opposing a bill filed by Bukidnon Rep. Juan Miguel Zubiri (Lakas Christian/Muslim Democrats) ostensibly seeking to strengthen the Philippine disaster response program.

Aside from the fact that the NGOs under TF:CBDM loath being under the National Disaster Management Council (NDMC), they believe that the current disaster coordinating council headed by the defense secretary should explain to the public why certain funds totalling Php370 million allocated in recent years remain unaccounted for, based on a report by the Commission on Audit (CoA).

TF: CBDM is composed of the following: Citizen’s Disaster Response Center (CDRC), Philippine Disaster Management Forum (PDMF), Center for Disaster Preparedness, Council for Health and Development, Samahang Operasyong Sagip, BACES (a community service organization based in San Beda College), and teachers from the University of the Philippines, Miriam College, St. Joseph College, and the Jose Abad Santos Memorial School.

HB 221, “An Act Streamlining and Strengthening the Philippine Disaster Preparedness and Prevention Capability, Appropriate Fund Therefor and for Other Purposes,” was filed in 2001. It intends to create a National Disaster Management Council (NDMC) which will supervise disaster response operations.

At present, the task of coordinating the government’s disaster response work falls on the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), an attached agency of the Department of National Defense (DND). The DND’s Office of Civil Defense (OCD) functions as its secretariat.

Salient features, opposition

The bill provides that the NDMC shall have the secretary of national defense as chairman and the interior and local government secretary as vice chairman, with the following as members: the secretaries of social welfare and development, health, agriculture, public works and highways, environment and natural resources, labor and employment, education, tourism and industry, economic development authority, and science and technology; together with the armed forces chief of staff, the director-general of the Philippine National Red Cross, and two representatives from the NGOs.

Section 2, Paragraph (e) of HB 221 provides: “It shall be the policy of the state to enhance the involvement of the non-government organizations in the government disaster preparedness and prevention program to strengthen delivery mechanism of emergency services and ‘bayanihan’ among the citizenry.”

This is one of the provisions with which TF: CBDM has taken issue. CDRC deputy executive director Rosalinda Tablang, who is also the spokesperson of TF: CBDM, said in a position paper: “The sub-section...seems to consider NGOs as adjunct machineries for the implementation of government programs. NGOs and government organizations are inherently distinct and independent entities. The creation and proliferation of NGOs was born precisely out of the many inadequacies of government services and programs for the people.”

Section 23, Paragraph (k) of the bill provides that “solicitation of funds and/or donations by accredited NGOs shall be regulated and monitored by NDMC through its member agencies concerned to ensure that public donations are safeguarded and duly accounted for.”

To this, Tablang replies: “Does the bill guarantee a corruption-free and externally driven disaster response system where disaster victims really get the relief assistance intended for them and government officials refrain from using donated goods or medicines for their partisan politics?”

Unaccounted amounts, wrong computations

The reports of the Commission on Audit (CoA) on the OCD for the years 1999, 2000 and 2002 appear to justify TF: CBDM’s concerns about possible corruption in the present set-up of the Philippine disaster response system. These reports reveal massive amounts unaccounted for by the OCD. (The COA website contains no report on the OCD for 2001. Bulatlat.com tried to obtain a copy of this from the COA office in Quezon City, but was informed that it could be downloaded from the commission’s website.)

Based on the 2000 report, the OCD received that year a total of Php30,000,000 in calamity funds under two Special Allotment Release Orders.

Of these, Php7,000,000 were unaccounted for. The report states: “Utilization of calamity funds in 1999 and 2000 totaling Php7,000,000 could not be monitored as these were given to NDCC as cash advances contrary to the stipulation stated in the Special Allotment Release Order (SARO).” Php2,000,000 of these were given in 1999 and the rest were given in 2000.

There is no explanation of why the COA was able to audit the SARO calamity fund allotments for 1999 only under the 2000 report, not under the 1999 report as should be expected.

Amounts unaccounted for in 2000 add up to Php347,862,000.

Of these, Php342,352,000 are made up of donations in cash and in kind to the NDCC’s Tulong Kapatid program, which are supposed to be used for relief operations. Combining the CoA reports on the OCD for 1999, 2000 and 2002, the unaccounted donations to the Tukong Kapatid Program makes up the biggest amount unaccounted for by the OCD for a single year.

For 2002, Php20,695,229.34 in funds is unaccounted for.

Putting together the figures unaccounted for by the OCD for 1999, 2000 and 2002, one gets a total of Php370,557,229.34. The NDCC, an attached agency of the DND under whose wing the Zubiri bill intends to place disaster response NGOs, has a total of Php370,557,229.34 in unaccounted funds for 1999, 2000 and 2002.

Aside from concerns on corruption, there are worries about whether the DND is efficient enough to lead Philippine disaster management and response NGOs. The CoA reports on the OCD for 1999, 2000 and 2002 all point to several instances of misclassification of accounts, non-booking of transactions, late deposits or submissions of reports, non-transferring of balances that needed to be transferred, neglect of equipment, and erroneous computations.

Bulatlat.com attempted to contact the OCD and get its side, but was told by OCD staff that no one was available to comment on the issue.

Campaign

TF:CDBM has been conducting lobby work with congressmen for HB 6376, a counter-measure to HB 221, filed last September by Bayan Muna Reps. Satur Ocampo, Crispin Beltran, and Liza Maza. HB 6376, “An Act Strengthening Philippine Disaster Management and Creating the National Disaster Management Commission, Providing Funds Therefor and for Other Purposes,” aims to create a separate government agency to focus solely on disaster response, to be led by representatives of disaster response NGOs.

As of last Nov. 15, three congressmen have said they will co-sponsor HB 6376: Raul del Mar, Harlin Abayon, and Amin Hussin. Three others—Carlos Padilla, Benigno Aquino III, and Reynaldo Uy—have said that the bill is good, but that they still have yet to decide whether to co-sponsor it.

TF: CBDM has also been circulating a petition calling for a comprehensive and pro-people disaster management bill. The petition seeks a disaster management program that:

1. Addresses the roots of people’s vulnerability to disasters and integrates disaster management programs with the country’s social development proram.

2. Relies on building people’s capacities toward attaining disaster-resiliency through the community-based disaster management approcach.

3. Defines comprehensive and concrete disaster management programs and services that focus not only during the relief and emergency phase but also more importantly on the pre- and post-calamity phases of a disaster.

4. Gives special and undivided attention to disaster management by removing the NDCC from the Department of National Defense-Office of Civil Defense and creating a separate and special government body, agency or commission under the Office of the President for the task.

As of this writing, TF: CBDM has been preparing for a forum to be held at the House of Representatives on Nov. 18. Bulatlat.com

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