PCSO aid to give P3,000 to P5,000 each to Davao Sur, Cotabato quake survivors
KIBLAWAN, DAVAO DEL SUR—At least P1 million in aid has been turned over to local governments by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) for survivors of the series of quakes that struck the provinces of Cotabato and Davao del Sur in October and December 2019.
Mayor Carl Jason Rama said on Tuesday (Feb. 25) that the local government would release this week P3,000 each to quake survivors for house repairs and P5,000 each to those who lost homes entirely.
Aside from the PCSO cash aid, the local government will also give P40,000 to P50,000 to each of the villages hit by the quakes.
He said at least 7,482 families had been displaced in Kiblawan town by the Dec. 15 quake, which had an epicenter in Matanao town, Davao del Sur. It was the fourth in the series of quakes in 2019 in Davao del Sur and Cotabato provinces.
Rama said the cash aid from the PCSO is on top of the P3,000 that the Department of Social Welfare and Development had also distributed.
Rama said the town’s rehab plan would include a new municipal hall, a motor pool, a police building, a legislative building and a “school of living tradition.”
He said the local government was “doing everything” because the people can’t rely solely on aid from the national government.
The local government also offered cash for work to quake survivors.
But Rama said what is needed was relocation sites for villages found landslide-prone.
He asked village officials to emulate the municipal government’s practice of setting aside contingency funds for disasters and emergencies.
In Magsaysay town, Mayor Arthur Davin said the 70 housing units that the National Housing Authority (NHA) built at the village of Malawanit would finally be turned over to displaced families this March.
Housing and Urban and Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) Secretary Eduardo del Rosario and NHA General Manager Marcelino Escalada Jr. personally inspected the completed housing units at the relocation site in Malawanit last Monday (Feb. 24).
