Prov’l disaster office to recommend putting Cebu under calamity state

CEBU CITY –– The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (PDRRMO) will recommend placing the entire Cebu under a state of calamity.

Neil Sanchez, PDRRMO head, pointed out that a state of calamity was needed to enable the provincial government to use its calamity funds to help the 11 towns in northern Cebu affected by Typhoon “Ursula.”

A declaration would also be used by the residents of the affected local government unit to apply for a loan either through the Government Service Insurance System, Social Security System or Pag-Ibig funds.

Under Republic Act 10121 or the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010, a province could declare a state of calamity if two or more LGUs are on calamity status, Sanchez said.

“Daanbantayan and Medellin have already declared a state of calamity. That is sufficient enough for the province to (also) declare (a state of calamity),” said Sanchez.

PDRRMO records show that at least 700 families from 14 barangays in Medellin were affected by the typhoon.

Daanbantayan Mayor Sun Shimura earlier told the Inquirer that at least 19,000 families or 50,000 individuals in the town’s 20 barangays had been displaced by Ursula when it released its wrath on Christmas Eve.

Sanchez said they were still waiting for the assessment of the other towns.

In Danao City, a motorcycle-for-hire driver drowned in the flood while trying to get home on Christmas Eve.

Jonathan Canggas, 31, a resident of Barangay Tagonon in Danao, was reported missing after he failed to come home after leaving his cousin’s house on Dec. 24.

Rhee Telen of the PDRRMO said Canggas insisted on going home following a drinking session in his cousin’s house.

His cousin told him to stay put since it was raining hard and the nearby river was starting to overflow.

But Canggas didn’t listen and insisted that he went home since his wife was waiting for him. He didn’t reach home.

His body was found in Awihao Dam in Barangay Giibaiot, Danao past 11 a.m. on Dec. 26.

Edited Lzb