By: Joshua Fullido

Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Sec. Erwin Tulfo on Sept. 15, 2022, bared that there are no funds which the agency can use in order to distribute cash aid for typhoon Odette victims.

It can be remembered that back in December 2021, former President Duterte promised to give P5,000 cash assistance to each if the eligible families who are victims of the typhoon that hit Bohol and other areas in the Visayas and Mindanao.

More than a week ago, First District Rep. Edgar Chatto was the one who first raised the concern on the lack of budget for the financial assistance program of typhoon Odette victims. The congressman raised the issue with Tulfo during a budget hearing at the House of Representatives.

“Wala nay pera for this year,” Tulfo said in a brief interview with the local media.

THE SOLUTION

Tulfo said that the DSWD is looking at including the funding for the cash aid for typhoon victims in the agency’s budget for 2023.

The DSWD’s budget is up for deliberations in Congress next week, according to reports.

Tulfo said that the cash aid is a promise of the Duterte administration.

“Promise kasi yan ng previous administration, kailangan natin tuparin yan, hanapan ng pondo. And the only way na naisip ko is ilalapit natin sa Congress,” Tulfo said.

THE ISSUE

The issue on the P5,000 cash aid became a political especially during the campaign for the May 2022 elections.

During the campaign, some incumbent mayors including former Governor Art Yap prior to the elections were accused of keeping the funds allegedly to be released by Election Day.

Some incumbent mayors had to explain that the funds for typhoon Odette victims were not in their possession.

However, some groups unleashed the propaganda that injured the re-election chances of some mayors and candidates who got victimized by the fake news.

The truth was funds for the typhoon victims’ cash aid never reached the coffers of local government units. In fact, the funds of the DSWD are insufficient to distribute P5,000 cash aid to the victims.

BOHOL VISIT

Aside from talking to the media about issues regarding the DSWD, Tulfo also participated in several activities in Pilar and Carmen towns.

In Pilar, Tulfo, together with other officials of the DSWD, Gov. Aris Aumentado and Pilar mayor Wilson Pajo, inaugurated projects worth P26 million in the said town.

The projects were funded by the DSWD under the Kapit Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services-National Community-Driven Development Project (KALAHI-CIDDS-NCCDP), reports add.

One of the projects in Pilar funded by the DSWD is the P2.5 million one-storey, school building inside the campus of Estaca Integrated National High School.

Another classroom was funded by the DSWD built inside the premises of Catagdaan Integrated High School.

Other buildings funded by the DSWD in Pilar are edifices in Lundag Integrated High School and the Municipal Isolation Facility located in barangay Poblacion, Pilar.

In Carmen town, Tulfo distributed P15,000 each to the beneficiaries of the Sustainable Livelihood Program-Livelihood Assistance Grant (SLP-LAG).

About 144 beneficiaries from the towns of Carmen, Candijay and Dagohoy received the livelihood grant from the DSWD.