MANILA: Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago has filed a measure calling for the creation of a flood recovery fund as the rainy season nears.
Santiago filed Senate Bill 394 or the Flood Recovery Fund Act, among other bills proposing flood prevention reforms to address the country’s perennial flooding woes.
Santiago’s bill seeks to establish a Flood Recovery Fund, which will be made available to Filipinos adversely affected by flooding.
She said the fund will help flood victims recover from their losses.
Under the bill, applications for financial assistance in the form of no-interest loans will be processed by Flood Recovery Fund action centres under the supervision of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
The appropriations required for the fund would be included in the DSWD budget.
“As a tropical country, the Philippines has always been subjected to dozens of typhoons per year. Countless lives have been lost and damages to properties have accumulated to billions of pesos as a result of these catastrophes,” Santiago said.
The Philippine Star
