Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Oro Private Sector Petitions PNoy for Sendong Relief
By Mike Banos
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The private sector in this gateway city to Mindanao is slated to meet President Benigno S. Aquino III today to present a comprehensive package of proposed relief measures designed to get the city back on its feet.
Pres. Aquino is scheduled to visit Iligan City in the morning to inspect the Bayanihan Village relocation site before flying back to Cagayan de Oro in the afternoon to speak at the inauguration of the Calaanan resettlement site before proceeding to the Xavier Ecoville Phase 1 relocation site for an inspection and meeting with the private sector.
In a letter to the president, copy of which was furnished to this paper, Oro Chamber President Ma. Teresa R. Alegrio, presents a petition in behalf of the private sector, outlining a comprehensive package of relief measures for the president’s consideration.
Ms. Alegrio said it is also the private sector’s prayer that concerned government agencies strictly implement permanent “No Build Zones” following the president’s declaration of riverbanks as "Off Limits to Human Habitation" and a total ban on all types of mining along the Iponan River.
Besides the Oro Chamber, the petition was also signed by presidents of the various Filipino-Chinese chambers, industrial associations, consumer groups, exporters, bankers and business promotion NGOs.
In their consolidated petition, copy of which was likewise furnished to this paper, the petitioners cited how Sendong paralyzed 40% of Cagayan de Oro’s trade and commerce and affected over 400,000 persons in Region 10 according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Mitigation Council (NDRRMC).
A survey conducted by the Oro Chamber (Cagayan de Oro Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation, Inc. revealed that TS Sendong damaged equipment and structures of micro, small and medium sized enterprises amounting to PhP 158.5-million while equipment losses in the manufacturing sector totaled PhP 809-million. Business losses arising from cancelled functions in hotel and restaurants as a result of brownouts and the collapse of the water system amounted to 50-60% of expected income.
Reports filed by the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) listed at least PhP 969.35 million in damages to 30 infrastructure projects including bridges, drainage and flood control. The Cagayan de Oro City Water District reported at least P30.4-million in damages to its infrastructure including major booster pumps of the city’s water district and its chlorination and laboratory facilities resulting in a water crisis which lasted for almost a month.
The package of proposed relief measures were categorized according to assistance to affected micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) such as a rehabilitation fund for technical assistance and special financing for working capital and equipment/machinery acquisition,
a Banko Sentral moratorium on amortizations falling due within six months after Sendong for
business, consumer, home and loans to large enterprises.
It also requests government to expedite the repair and rehabilitation of damaged infrastructure
and logistics facilities such as river embankment/ flood control projects, bridges, water and electric distribution systems, irrigation facilities and most important, dredging of the Cagayan River.
For workers affected by Sendong, the petition requests the Social Security System (SSS) and Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) for additional calamity loans to all affected private and government employees and to restructure the monthly payment for at least six (6) months; and for PAG-IBIG to extend a moratorium of six (6) months on all existing loans; set up a rehabilitation fund to allow all borrowers to reconstruct and rehabilitate their damaged homes; and avail of a special calamity loan for personal rehabilitation without deductions to balance outstanding on previous loans.
The private sector is also requesting the Dept. of Trade and Industry (DTI) to conduct a stringent monitoring and enforcement of the price freeze on basic commodities and for the Department of Energy (DOE) to enforce a price freeze on all petroleum products in
Cagayan de Oro and Iligan to their Dec. 16, 2011 price levels while the State of National Calamity remains.
In addition, the petition urges DOE to arrange for free servicing and oil change of all public utility and commercial vehicles affected by Tropical Storm Sendong; as well as provide a one-month subsidy for unpaid December 2011 electricity bills of all flood victims; as well as a 50% discount on retail electricity rates for affected survivors in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan City, and for the Local Water Utilities Administration to cover a portion of the unpaid December 2011 water bills of all flood victims amounting to PhP 25.3M;
Government agencies like the Dept. of Foreign Affairs, National Statistics Office, Land Transportation Office, Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board are requested to grant free replacement of passports, birth and marriage certificates, driver’s license and all other documents requiring government authentication, free of charge.
Not the least, the petition proposes the following measures relating to disaster risk mitigation and management to preclude a repeat of the disaster: creation of a Task Force charged with updating geohazard maps, aerial topographical surveys, sonar imaging surveys and satellite imagery needed for a detailed in depth study of the Cagayan de Oro River Basin, watershed and delta areas needed for efficient and accurate modeling studies needed to create a new Master Plan for the city.
In addition, DOST and DENR-MGB are requested to install flood water level gages and warning system in strategic areas of riverbanks and for DENR to strictly enforce the law prohibiting the cultivation of annual row crops on lands with over 15 percent slope and near river banks which previously resulted in massive erosion and silting.
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