Iloilo PDRRMC earmarks P270M for COVID-19 response

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

The Iloilo Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) approved to allocate P270 million as part of the province’s response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

The PDRRMC chaired by Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. approved the amount during its meeting on April 6, 2020.

The funds were sourced from the savings of the province from its calamity funds of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) since 2016.

The funds will be submitted to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan for approval.

The governor said that the funds will be used to help the municipalities in their respective response initiatives. He added that the allocation for each local government unit (LGU) will depend on their respective needs.

“After this meeting, we will have the details now, where it will go, and after that, it will be elevated to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan for their approval. We will download this to the municipalities according to how much they would need,” he said.

He added that the funds will help provide the people’s needs amid the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) in the province.

“This is our contribution to our municipalities because they are the frontliners in their areas. We handed down an Executive Order to them, we have to help build also their capacity. They already have ideas, like relief operations. Some people are displaced, public transport drivers, daily wage workers who have stopped working, we have to catch them. There are many sectors,” he said.

The ECQ in Iloilo was implemented on March 20 through Executive Order No. 080 and will run until April 14.