ILOILO CITY – Western Visayas officials have called on the national government to find and release funds for repair and rehabilitation projects in areas ravaged by last year’s typhoon “Frank,” warning of another disaster when the rainy season sets in.

Presidential Assistant for Western Visayas Raul Banias said the release of the P8-billion “Paglaum (Hope) Fund” remained unsure more than eight months after the typhoon triggered the region’s worst flooding.

Banias, executive director of Task Force Bangon Panay, said the delay in the release of funds has put on hold much needed repairs and replacement of vital infrastructure projects and the dredging of heavily silted creeks, rivers and other waterways.

The heavily silted rivers could overflow and trigger flash floods similar to last year’s, he said.

Worries

“We are worried that a big disaster would happen when the rain comes,” Banias said in a speech at a regional summit on sustainable development.

He said the release of the funds have been put on hold because the source of the funds has been pegged to the passing of the Simplified Net Income Tax Scheme (SNITS) bill pending in Congress, which would raise P9 billion.
Banias said the SNITS, if approved, would be implemented in 2010 at the earliest because there was not enough time to pass the bill before the April 15 deadline in the filing of income taxes.

“If the rehabilitation fund will be sourced from revenues raised through SNITS, then it would be too late,” Banias said in an interview.

Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas warned that lives could be lost and properties could be damaged if the floods recur since the creeks and rivers in the city have not been rehabilitated and were mostly silted.