The Senate Finance Committee’s report, which contains the proposed P6.352 trillion budget for the upcoming fiscal year, will include provisions for increased funding for disaster risk reduction and management.
This assurance was made by Senator Grace Poe, who defended the 2025 national budget in the plenary as head of the chamber’s finance panel.
According to Poe, the passage of the 2025 national budget will strengthen the calamity fund, enabling the government to provide fast and timely relief to communities hit by successive typhoons.
The Senate has allocated P21 billion for the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund, which is P500 million more than this year’s appropriation.
“The increase is for our people’s urgent and essential needs during calamities,” Poe said in a statement on Sunday. “If communities have the resources, they can make timely responses that can save lives,” she added.
Poe emphasized that the calamity fund should not only be used for immediate relief but also for the repair and rehabilitation of affected areas. She also highlighted the importance of pre-disaster operations, such as early evacuations, to reduce the severe impacts of calamities.
“The budget we allocate should not only be for providing food to the victims of typhoons or other calamities for a few days,” the senator said. “This is also meant to assist in the recovery and new beginnings of our affected fellow citizens,” she added.
As part of her commitment to supporting disaster response efforts, Poe also expressed her support for increasing the quick response fund of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, which plays a critical role in disaster relief operations.
“This series of typhoons has severely affected some of our countrymen,” she said. “We are carefully managing the budget to ensure that in times of need, we have resources to provide assistance,” Poe concluded.