DILG Signs P86M Donation for Yolanda-affected PNP Personnel

Interior and Local Government Secretary Mel Senen Sarmiento signed recently a check amounting to P86.770 million that will be disbursed to the Philippine National Police (PNP) to assist some 3,225 employees of the PNP affected by Typhoon Yolanda and the Bohol Earthquake.

Secretary Sarmiento said that the amount is the first of two tranches to be donated by the President’s Social Fund (PSF) thru the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to PNP employees whose houses were either partially, heavily or totally damaged in the two worst calamities that hit the country in recent years.

The P86.770 million tranche for PNP employees is part and parcel of the total amount of P218.380 million financial assistance allocated by the OP for 4,176 calamity-affected employees of the DILG and its attached agencies (PNP, BFP, BJMP).

The Secretary said that the second tranche of P 86.770 million will be released after the liquidation for the first tranche has been submitted to the Presidential Management Staff (PMS) and the PMS has made the necessary evaluation and recommendation to release the second installment.

Beneficiaries with totally or heavily damaged houses can avail of as much as P100,000 to defray the cost of repair or reconstruction of their own housing units. Beneficiaries with partially damaged houses, on the other hand, can reimburse up to P30,000 for the rehabilitation of their housing units.

A Deed of Donation was executed between the PNP as ‘Donee’, represented by PNP Chief Director Gen. Ricardo Marquez, and the DILG as “Donor’, represented by Secretary of the Interior and Local Government.

Under the Deed of Donation, the donor, which in this case would be the DILG, shall have the right to monitor the implementation and to conduct a financial and physical performance evaluation in order to determine the compliance of the donee or the PNP with the terms of the deed.

The PNP, on the other hand, shall have the responsibility of monitoring the utilization of the financial assistance by the beneficiaries, and submit a report and liquidation of fund utilization.

Meanwhile, Undersecretary for Operations Atty. Edwin Enrile said that the Deed of Donation between the DILG and PNP was actually signed on March 28, 2016, but the release of the first tranche was somewhat delayed because the COMELEC informed the DILG that the program of giving calamity assistance in the form of donation to the calamity victims may fall within the purview of the prohibition against fund releases during the campaign period.

“Therefore, in order to be prudent about the matter, we delayed release of funds until after the election,” Enrile added. (DILG)