P16B needed for ‘Pablo’ survivors

A CHILD crosses a road in New Bataan, Compostela Valley, to beg for alms from motorists after Typhoon “Pablo” cut a wide swath of destruction in the town in December last year. JEOFFREY MAITEM/INQUIRER MINDANAO

TAGUM CITY—At least P16 billion is needed for typhoon-devastated Compostela Valley province to fully get back on its feet, officials said.

The “blueprint,” which enumerated the multibillion-peso tab for the province’s rehabilitation, has already been submitted to Malacañang last week, according to Gov. Arturo Uy.

Speaking before a group of rice farmers in Nabunturan town last Friday, Uy said the biggest chunk of the more than P16-billion proposed budget—about P7 billion—is intended for the permanent resettlement of tens of thousands of Compostela Valley folk left homeless following the onslaught of Typhoon “Pablo” in southern Mindanao last Dec. 4 that left at least 2,000 dead or missing.

Thousands of victims in Compostela Valley are currently living in tents and bunkhouses built either by the national government through the Department of Social Welfare and Development or the provincial government.

President Aquino has created a national task force—the Task Force Pablo—composed of different government agencies that would help in the recovery of areas ravaged by last year’s calamity.

Uy said he was optimistic that the President would respond favorably to the blueprint. Frinston L. Lim, Inquirer Mindanao