Twenty-five disaster-prone provinces will now be able to respond better to natural calamities given the availability of a P1-billion insurance fund, the Finance department said on Monday. In addition to Albay and Batanes, the other provinces covered are Aurora, Cagayan, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Cebu, Davao del Sur, Davao Oriental, Dinagat Islands, Eastern Samar, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Isabela, Laguna, Leyte, Northern Samar, Pampanga, Quezon, Rizal, Sorsogon, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur and Zambales. According to Alvarez, premium payments will be financed through an NDDRM Fund allocation earmarked for the insurance of government facilities. For disaster-specific premiums, P500 million of the fund will be allocated as follows: 79.2 percent for typhoons and 20.8 percent for earthquakes. The other P500 million will be province-specific and split equally among the 25 provinces at P20 million each.

Source: Manila Times August 14, 2017 17:26 UTC