Tacloban City – With the second anniversary of Super typhoon Yolanda approaching, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) reported that 92% of public buildings in provinces, cities and municipalities in Eastern Visayas that were damaged by Yolanda have been restored.
Regional Director Pedro A. Noval Jr. of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said that DILG’s monitoring of LGUs in Region 8 revealed that as of this month (October), 134 of 145 municipal halls, civic centers and public markets have been completed, and are now being used by their intended beneficiaries.
“With only 11 projects on-going, we fully expect to restore all local public services in Eastern Visayas by early next year, at the latest, “ Dr. Noval said.
As part of its mandate to be enablers of local government units in fulfilling its task of ensuring conditions for the economic uplift of communities, DILG under Secretary Mar Roxas had released 938 million pesos in April last year to Eastern Visayas for infrastructure projects.
DILG released an additional 973.5 million pesos in May for repair of about 1,649 public facilities in 1,211 barangays. This covers repair and reconstruction of barangay halls, day care centers and civic centers / auditorium.
Under Project Recovery Assistance for Yolanda (RAY), DILG exercises its supervisory and quality control functions over LGUs by reviewing and monitoring repair and rebuilding projects identified by the appropriate LGU officials. Upon approval, DILG facilitates the fund transfer and deploys its team of engineers to monitor compliance to ensure that funding is properly and judiciously used.
The public may also view the status of projects in the www.ray.dilg.gov.ph website.
DILG established the RAY Fund as part of government’s “Build Back Bettter” reconstruction initiatives after Super typhoon Yolanda to make local governments more resilient during disasters. ###
