Post-Yolanda rehab on top of NEDA board objectives – Palace official

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) on Thursday convened to make concrete the action programs the Aquino administration must prioritize to rebuild and rehabilitate much of Central Philippines, 14 days after Super Typhoon Yolanda raked through Regions 6, 7 and 8, destroying crops, livestock, houses, and transportation and communications infrastructure.

According to a National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council update early Thursday, the death toll was at 4,011, with 18,567 injured and 1,602 still missing.

The council counted 2,150,925 families or 10,008,955 people were affected in 10,736 villages in 44 provinces.

The cost of destruction rose to P12,656,523,162.50, including P2,143,840,052.74 in infrastructure and P10,512,683,109.76 in agriculture, the council noted.

It said 364,887 houses were destroyed while 344,368 were damaged.

While the costs continue to mount, the rehabilitation of much of Central Philippines that was destroyed by Typhoon Yolanda is among the objectives of the NEDA board meeting on Thursday, Malacañang said.

"The President is currently leading the Cabinet in a meeting of the NEDA board that, aside from tackling proposals for major infrastructure projects, has been convened to concretize priority action programs for the severely-damaged portions of Eastern Visayas," Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) head Herminio Coloma Jr. said a press briefing.

NEDA is an independent economic development and planning agency of the government. http://www.neda.gov.ph/about.asp

Aquino cited the NEDA board meeting was among the reasons for his sudden return to Manila from the typhoon-hit areas, where he stayed for three days. http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/336165/news/nation/pnoy-back-in-manila-after-3-days-in-yolanda-hit-areas

NEDA is headed by the President as board chairman, with the Secretary of Socio-Economic Planning and concurrent NEDA director-general as vice-chairman. Some Cabinet members, the Central Bank Governor, ARMM and ULAP are also members of the board.

Coloma told reporters Thursday the board will only be able to tackle the rehabilitation efforts for Yolanda survivors after discussing the major infrastructure projects on its regular agenda.

"That meeting will just flow into the discussion of the rehabilitation efforts and the need to draw up resource generation and resource allocation program na may impact po doon sa budget," he said.

Asked if the government will tap the private sector in the rehabilitation efforts, the Palace official said their participation is "welcome... Sila naman po ay stakeholder din doon sa pagbabagong-tatag at panunumbalik ng normal economic activities sa mga rehiyon na nasalanta ng serye ng mga kalamidad." he said.

The administration received indications from private investors and stakeholder groups that they are "ready to pitch in and do what is needed," Coloma noted.

"Umaasa lang sila that government will provide a facilitative and enabling environment para po mapahusay ‘yung partisipasyon nila doon sa rehabilitation efforts," he said. –

source:ph.yahoo.com