EDITORIAL – Not so quick response

We have witnessed how farmers protested the failure of the government to ease the burden of Filipino farmers affected by the El Nino phenomenon. Lives have been lost, several others sustaining injuries.
Their cries perhaps fell on deaf ears.
After a long silence and concentrating instead on the political front, the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines finally came out in the open on the El Nino calamity.
An official from the social action arm of the CBCP expressed alarm over the delayed release of government funds farmers suffering from the ill effects of the El Niño phenomenon.
Fr. Edwin Gariguez, executive secretary of the National Secretariat for Social Action (NASSA)/Caritas Philippines, is referring to the available funds from the national government such as the quick response funds (QRF), which were not yet fully disbursed despite requests by local government units of areas hit by El Niño.
The statement was made in light of the recent violent dispersal of farmers rallying for food aid in Kidapawan City which resulted in the death of at least two farmers and dozens more injured.
So, what’s taking it long for the government to release the funds? A ranking official of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) recently confirmed that their “letter request for funding has not been acted upon despite follow-ups.”
The sentiment was also the same lament of the North Cotabato governor who said that they had not received any funding from the national government although the request was made as early as March.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development boasted of the availability of P32 billion QRF for 2016 and another P6.7 billion for the implementation of cash-for-work and livelihood assistance for families affected by El Niño. But these funds were not yet fully downloaded to the affected LGUs.
Now what can you expect from a government that’s busy campaigning for its so-called “anointed son”?
What can you expect from the Department of Agriculture which denied the fact that there is a food shortage in North Cotabato and the nearby areas?
What can you expect from DA when It declared instead that there is enough food supply in North Cotabato when everyone is already clutching their stomachs in hunger?
Notwithstanding CBCPs’ call for immediate action, the government must act on releasing quickly the QRF to the affected farmers.
As the name suggests, quick response funds and that is for emergency releases as the need arises.
Unless you change it to late response funds.