Capitol extends P23M aid, sends out more relief goods

Financial assistance worth P23 million will be allocated to northern Cebu towns badly hit by supertyphoon Yolanda last Friday.

Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III yesterday said the towns of Daanbantayan, Medellin, San Remigio, Bogo City, Sta. Fe, Madridejos and Bantayan will each receive P2 million.

The towns of Poro, San Francisco and Tudela in Camotes island and Borbon, Tabuelan and Sogod will receive P1 million, he added.

The assistance will be sourced from the Cebu provincial government’s P56 million calamity fund.

The Cebu Provincial Board (PB) passed a resolution affirming Davide’s proclamation of a continued “state of calamity” in the province that was battered by the Oct. 15 earthquake and the oil spill in Cordova town last August.

The Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO) sent 10,000 food packs yesterday.

PSWDO chief Evelyn Senajon said the bulk of these will go Daanbantayan, Medellin, San Remigio and Bantayan island.

“In the following days we will send pails, mosquito nets, blankets and other housewares that they can use for the meantime,” she told reporters yesterday.

The Cebu provincial government delivered 7,500 food packs to affected towns a day after the typhoon made landfall in the province last week.

More than 300 volunteers most of whom were high school and college students helped repack relief goods.

Special session

“Everyone is welcome to donate and help. We need all the help that we can get,” she said.

The Cebu City government set aside P12 million to help local government units (LGUs) affected by the typhoon.

The Cebu City Council held a special session to approve the allocation. Of that amount, P6 million will be given to typhoon-hit northern Cebu towns.

Leyte province, Ormoc and Tacloban cities will each receive P1 million.

Cash aid of half a million pesos will each be given to Palo, Palompon and Isabel towns also in Leyte.

Command center

Another half a million pesos each will be given to Eastern Samar, Iloilo, Coron in Palawan, Negros Occidental and Capiz.

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama said while Cebu City also experienced strong winds and gusty rains, there were no casualties and the damage had been “manageable.”

The Australian government announced in a press statement that they are giving P15.5 million worth of emergency relief supplies to assist typhoon-affected localities in the Visayas. The council also approved a resolution by Councilor Alvin Dizon requesting shipping firms and cargo forwarders not to charge the shipment of relief goods to typhoon affected areas.

Councilor Dave Tumulak was scheduled to leave for Ormoc by boat last night to set up a command center there.

Good relations

He and others will bring two truckloads of relief goods from ABS-CBN for distribution in Ormoc.

Rama said they chose to help Ormoc because of the city’s good relations with several residents there. He said several prominent families in Cebu City like the Larrazabals, Tans and Codillas came from Ormoc City.

In Mandaue City, Mayor Jonas Cortes urged City Hall employees to give relief goods to typhoon victims in yesterday morning’s flag-raising ceremonies. City Administrator James Abadia said they will extend aid to Tacloban and Ormoc.

The Department of Education (DepEd) Mandaue City office will launch its relief operation manned by students and teachers from private and public schools. /Peter L. Romanillos and Doris C. Bongcac with Reporter Jucell Marie P. Cuyos and Correspondent Jose Santino S. Bunachita