Emmanuel Jaldon, head of DCDRRMO clarified that barangays can declare state of calamity in their area and make use of their quick response fund. (Maria Patricia Borromeo/davaotoday.com)
DAVAO CITY – Barangays that declared state of calamity here can already use their quick response fund (QRF) even if the city have not declared a state of calamity yet, the Davao City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (DCDRRMO) said.
Emmanuel Jaldon, head of DCDRRMO clarified that barangays can declare state of calamity in their area and make use of their quick response fund.
“This is an emergency fund. They make the program and provide the immediate needs of their barangay,”Jaldon said.
“Our assistance to the barangays should be anchored in the declaration of the city as in state of calamity,” he said.
According to the Department of Budget and Management website, QRF are “built-in budgetary allocations that represent pre-disaster or standby funds for agencies in order to immediately assist areas stricken by catastrophes and crises.”
Agencies inlcuding the Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of National Defense – Office of the Secretary/Office of the Civil Defense, Department of Education, Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Department of Agriculture have built-in QRFs.
Rogelio Tabay of the City Agriculture Office reported on Thursday that all barangays in Paquibato district, and some other barangays of Marilog, Calinan and Tugbok district were declared under state of calamity.
Tabay said that on the first two months of this year, crops are still in good condition. But on March, he said farmers already reported that most of their plants were dead already caused by the the El Niño phenomenon.
“The farmers already complained because their crops were already hit by the El Niño, these crops are their source of income,” Tabay said.
He said the City Agriculture office received the data from the affected barangays only in the first week of April but that the data they received were still “insufficient” to declare the city under state of calamity.
Jaldon said that among the criteria to follow before declaring a state of calamity is that 20 percent of the people in the barangay should be affected and 40 percent of the livelihood of the farmers are affected and worst is facilities of the vicinity are disrupted.
“It’s just this month that the city was qualified to be declared in a state of calamity,” Jaldon said. (davaotoday.com)
