Capitol, Centcom extend aid to Pablo victims in Cebu
FINANCIAL and material assistance were provided yesterday by Capitol officials in three southern Cebu towns that were hit hardest by typhoon Pablo two weeks ago.
Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia visited families displaced by Pablo in the towns of Boljoon, Santander, and Samboan with her contingent of political allies headed by her father, Deputy House Speaker Pablo Garcia.
About 177 houses were devastated by Pablo in the three towns with Samboan receiving the brunt of the devastation with 114 houses destroyed followed by 51 houses in Santander and 12 in Boljoon.
Those who lost their homes were given P3,000 each while each of the 410 residents whose houses were damages received P1,000 each in financial aid.
In Boljoon, Governor Garcia also gave P10,000 to Teresita Pila, the daughter of 50-year-old Arlenda who died after being hit by a fallen tree last Dec. 4.
The elder Garcia also pledged to finance the restoration of Boljoon’s baywalk parkcoincidentally named “Pablo.”
The Garcias will also help repair the roofing of Samboan’s municipal gym.Boljoon Mayor Teresita Celis thanked the Garcias for the support.
Santander and Samboan Mayors Marilyn Wenceslao and Raymond Joseph Calderon also provided housing materials to the victims.
For their part, the Central Command (Centcom) said they will hold a gift-giving activity to typhoon Pablo victims at their grandstand and parade grounds at 4 p.m today.
Centcom spokesman Lt. Mark Enriquez said the activity is in line with the directive of President Beningo Aquino III for government agencies to tone down their Christmas celebrations or hold fund-raising events for typhoon Pablo victims in Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental.
Enriquez said the Centcom will also turn over wheelchairs to beneficiaries.
“A simple yet meaningful” Christmas party will also be held for all organic personnel and their families,” he said.
In the Davao region, the death toll caused by the onslaught of typhoon “Pablo” breached the 1,000 mark, with over 800 persons still missing, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said yesterday.
In its latest report, the NDRRMC said 1,020 bodies were recovered from the areas ravaged by the killer typhoon, most of them from the hardest-hit provinces of Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental.
About 844 persons were still unaccounted for while 2,662 were injured during the flashfloods, landslides and other events triggered by the typhoon.
Four Cebuana friends took a leave of absence from their work and raised P170,000 in cash from friends and relatives for Pablo victims in Baganga town, Davao Oriental which had been rendered inaccessible after the main Caraga bridge collapsed.
The group had to fly to Davao City at dawn, buy relief goods, hire a truck to make the six-hour road trip, cross a river no longer passable by bridge, and ride a multi-cab to reach Baganga by nightfall. Correspondent Carmel Loise Matus with Senior Reporter Marian Z. Codilla and Inquirer reports
