NATURE’S WRATH Fierce winds and storm surges whipped by Typhoon “Ompong” destroyed this house in a coastal area at Sitio Bagac in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte. —RICHARD A. REYES
Malacañang on Monday reassured survivors of Typhoon “Ompong” (international name: Mangkhut) that they could avail themselves of assistance and loans from government financial institutions.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said loans and financial assistance were available from the Home Development Mutual Fund or Pag-Ibig, and the Social Security Systems (SSS).
“If your house was destroyed, you can borrow up to P150,000 from Pag-Ibig. You only need to bring the photo of your house and land title,” Roque said in a press briefing.
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has released another P662.5 million to the government’s quick response fund (QRF) meant to help victims of Ompong, which ravaged northern Luzon two weeks ago.
Fresh DBM funds
Of the fresh fund release, P134.7 milion would be spent to help families affected by Ompong, the DBM said.
The 2018 national budget allotted a total of P7.6 billion under the QRF, with P1.25 billion lodged under the appropriations of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
“The QRF is tapped to normalize the situation and living conditions of people and communities affected by the calamities,” Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said.
The Bureau of Customs on Monday donated to the DSWD hundreds of confiscated sacks of rice and cartons of canned goods for the DSWD’s relief efforts.
Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña led the turnover of the 374 sacks of rice and 5,040 pieces of canned goods.
Ompong destroyed or damaged 117,685 houses in the Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon and Cordillera regions, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.
P14.3-B crops destroyed
The strongest typhoon to hit the country this year also destroyed P14.3 billion worth of crops and damaged P4.4 billion worth of infrastructure.
Nearly 100 people died in the typhoon, mostly in the Cordilleras where landslides hit Itogon, Benguet.
Roque assured that the families of the fatalities in the Itogon landslide, as well as the landslide in Naga City, Cebu province, would also be given assistance by the government.
He said the DSWD had given P25,000 in financial assistance each to the victims’ families, aside from P20,000 from President Duterte.
The SSS would also provide P20,000 in funeral benefits to SSS members who were killed in the landslides, he added. —Julie M. Aurelio, Ben O. de Vera and Jovic Yee