Cebu-based dailies to jointly monitor aid efforts in typhoon-battered northern Cebu

Have you ever wondered which areas in northern Cebu still need help?

The three Cebu-based dailies — Cebu Daily News, The Freeman and Sunstar Cebu – have banded together to jointly track the relief efforts being undertaken by the government, private organizations as well as individuals in 13 towns and a city that were heavily affected by the onslaught of supertyphoon Yolanda. The project was organized in coordination with the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. and the Cebu provincial government.

The Relief Tracker will help monitor the traffic of goods sent by donors as well as help identify which areas were underserved and need more assistance. The project aims to encourage those extending help to spread the help evenly.

Project organizers are calling on those distributing relief goods to share data and information on the number of relief packs sent to barangays in the towns of Bantayan, Madridejos, and Santa Fe in Bantayan island; Pilar, Poro, San Francisco, and Tudela in Camotes island; San Remigio, Medellin, Daanbantayan, Tabogon, Borbon, Sogod towns and Bogo City.

Data from the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) shows the population of the 14 towns including Bogo City is 570,735, but as of Nov. 14, the provincial government has only sent 58,489 relief packs to these areas.

There was an unusually high volume of traffic in roads leading to northern Cebu over the weekend as groups and individuals mounted their respective relief operations.

The usual three hour drive from Cebu City to Daanbantayan took five hours as several choke points in Lilo-an, Compostela, Danao City, Carmen, Borbon and Bogo City slowed down vehicular flow.

Cebu Provincial Information Officer Ethel Natera said the volume of people coming in to help is rather high.

“It was just the volume of the people that were coming in to help out in the north which was really a lot,” Natera told Cebu Daily News.

The Cebu City government brought city hall to the doorsteps of north district residents over the weekend.

City Hall personnel used chainsaws to cut fallen trees especially those that obstructed roads while doctors checked on the health conditions of typhoon affected families in Cebu’s 4th district.

Mayor Michael Rama yesterday went to Medellin town to inspect the command center set up by City Hall that was tasked to oversee the mission.

“ Pwerteng dako-a nako ug kalipay sa tabang sa Cebu City,” said 4th district Rep. Benhur Salimbangon.

He said the Cebu City government was the first local government unit to extend help to his district.

Disappointment

Salimbangon said he is very disappointed with the national government for the lack of attention to the victims in his district. He said he went to DSWD to ask for relief goods for typhoon affected families in his district but he was only given 200 sacks of goods. Each sack contains about 10 packs of rice and canned goods.

He claimed that DSWD had told him that their relief packs were intended for typhoon-affected families in Tacloban. Salimbangon said he has raised this issue to Speaker Sonny Belmonte who was with President Aquino in Tacloban.

John Ford Coley concert

Almost P200,000 in cash was raised in a benefit concert last Friday by international artist John Ford Coley dubbed “Love Overload,” for three different beneficiaries – the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC), victims of the Bohol earthquake and victims of the recent supertyphoon Yolanda.

As of yesterday, cash receipts from the concert amounted to P182,800, which is equivalent to 457 paid concert tickets priced at P400 pesos each.

“There are still some friends that didn’t return nor remit their ticket sales, so we are hoping to have more,” Parklane Hotel Manager Cenelyn Manguilimotan told CDN.

Manguilimotan said P50,000 will be given to CCMC and another P50,000 will be given to the Jesu Christi Community of Cebu, who partnered with the hotel for the concert and a medical mission to Bohol which suffered greatly from the 7.2-magnitude earthquake last October 15.

The remaining amount will be used to buy relief goods for northern Cebu towns and meals for the Tacloban evacuees who are here in Cebu, she added.

“Last Sunday, we already started distributing relief goods in barangay Tagnukan in Borbon, and barangay Moabog of Tabogon,” Manguilimotan told CDN.

Donations in kind were also accepted during the concert at the Parklane hotel last Friday. The hotel continues to serve as a drop-off point for relief donations.

Manguilimotan, a friend of Coley, said the artist really wanted to visit the northern areas in Cebu affected by the typhoon but was not able to because of his schedule.

Coley offered to do a free concert for the three beneficiaries after seeing photos of the devastation in Facebook and in the news.

The checks for CCMC and the medical mission for Bohol will be officially turned over to the respective beneficiaries later this week.

Coley is the other half of the duo England Dan & John Ford Coley who were popular in the 1970s and is behind the hits like “I’d Really Love To See You Tonight” and “It’s Sad To Belong.”/ Marian Z. Codilla, Senior Reporter with Correspondents Edison delos Angeles and Jose Santino Bunachita