SC’s P715-M Supplemental Budget Realigned for Yolanda Housing

The House committee on appropriations has scrapped the P715.4-million budget for the Supreme Court’s Enterprise Information System plan in the proposed P22.4-billion supplemental budget and has instead allocated the funds to the construction of emergency shelters for typhoon Yolanda victims, report said.

It added that the panel has decided to realign said funds for the judiciary’s project since it has already been included in the P2.6-trillion national budget for 2015.

Of the realigned P715.4 million allocation, P661.7 million went to the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD)’s emergency shelter assistance for Yolanda victims while P53.59 million went to fund the Department of Public Works and Highways’ (DPWH) obligations arising from implemented infrastructure projects that were halted as a result of the Supreme Court’s adverse decisions on the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) and Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), GMA News Online reported.

The DPWH’s proposed additional budget intended for outstanding obligations from these orphaned projects is now at P1.9 billion from P1.8 billion, while DSWD’s allocation for emergency shelter spiked from P1.5 billion to P2.1 billion.

Report said that factoring the realignments, a huge chunk of the proposed supplemental budget is earmarked for Yolanda rehabilitation efforts at P10.16 billion. Of this amount, P7.9 million is intended for the construction of permanent housing for the typhoon victims.

Earlier, President Benigno Aquino II certified as urgent the proposed supplemental budget, and it is expected that the House will pass the measure on third and final reading on Dec. 15, according to House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II.

Earlier this month, Aquino pushed for greater budgetary support for the judiciary.

Source: GMA News Online