The Philippine national government has already set aside an amount worth P4.7 billion that may be used for disaster response in the wake of preparations for Typhoon Hagupit or Bagyong Ruby, which already entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility on Thursday morning, December 4, 2014.
The Department of Budget and Management confirmed the budget allocation during a press briefing on Wednesday, December 3, as Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, noted that at least seven (7) government agencies have “quick response funds” that they can use to mobilize people, equipment and other logistics during disasters.
Here’s a Breakdown of the Quick Response Funds (QRF) per Department:
- Department of Agriculture – P406 million
- Department of Education – P564 million
- Department of Health – P500 million
- Department of National Defense – P448 million
- Office of Civil Defense – P764 million
- Department of Social Welfare and Development – P1.01 Billion
- Department of Transportation and Communications – P1 Billion
According to Secretary Abad, the QRF’s are comprehensively released to the departments at the start of the year as part of the GAA-as-release document regime, the department have the capability to perform emergency response functions without the need to fulfill required conditions and processes that may take time during disaster.
The Philippine government may also draw from the 2014 National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund (NDRRMF) to deal with the after-effects of Typhoon Hagupit (Bagyong Ruby) as it forecasts to move towards the Philippines.
The International weather agency, Joint Typhoon Warning Center of the US Navy, based in Hawaii have already declared Hagupit as a super typhoon, based upon their forecasts, super typhoon Hagupit could bring maximum sustained winds of more than 200 kph.