As more volunteers and donors come forward to help areas devastated by Supertyphoon “Yolanda,” local government units in Metro Manila are taking the humanitarian effort to the next level by “adopting” their stricken counterparts in the Visayas.
Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chair Francis Tolentino said LGUs in the capital had agreed not only to send material aid to these Visayan towns and cities but also help restore “governance.”
“What these badly damaged LGUs need is governance. It may be because even local officials were affected by the calamity, or they were just simply overwhelmed by the magnitude of the disaster. It is time that we in Metro Manila come in and help them run their localities,” Tolentino said.
The Metro Manila Council, composed of the 17 mayors of the National Capital Region, agreed on the program in a meeting Wednesday.
“It will be up to the sponsoring Metro Manila LGU to implement programs, including (the deployment of) technical and engineering experts who will facilitate the recovery of their adopted localities and extend assistance to the displaced residents,” Tolentino said.
Quezon City will adopt Palompon and Tolosa, Sante Fe in Leyte; Pasig City will take care of Mayorga, Palo, Barotac Viejo and Nuevo and Dumangas in Iloilo; Mandaluyong City will be assigned to Isabel and Tanauan, Leyte; Marikina City to Hernani and Lorente, Eastern Samar; San Juan to Ormoc City and Albuera, Leyte;
Taguig City to Gen. McArthur, Guiuan, Salcedo, Mercedes and Quinapondan in Eastern Samar, Las Piñas City to Julita and Dulag, Leyte; Caloocan City to Javier, Mc Arthur and La Paz in Leyte; Malabon City to Bogo, Cebu; Navotas City to Lawaan and Giporlos, Eastern Samar; Valenzuela City to Basey and Marabut in Western Samar; and MMDA to Coron, Palawan, and Sulat, Eastern Samar. Jaymee T. Gamil