Bringing construction materials and carpentry tools along with relief and medical services, Quezon City employees aim to bring hope to three typhoon-ravaged areas in Leyte province adopted recently by the city government.
The local government is also looking into the possibility of implementing an “adopt-a-barangay” scheme in which all of the city’s 142 barangays (villages) will be tapped to assist their counterparts in the towns of Sta. Fe, Tolosa and Palompon.
Upon the orders of Mayor Herbert Bautista, a 100-man contingent will bring aid to the three municipalities from Dec. 14 to 20.
The teams, led by Quezon City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council action officer Elmo San Diego, would be carrying construction materials, equipment, medicine and other recovery and rehabilitation assistance. These would be in addition to generator sets, chain saws, folding stretchers, as well as earthquake, landslide and rescue operations tools.
Every family in the towns of Sta. Fe, Tolosa, and Palompon will also be given carpentry tools and construction materials to enable them to rebuild their homes.
In a statement, Bautista assured the residents of the towns that the assistance to be provided by the city would not be on a short-term basis. “We intend to help and assist the three adopted municipalities in the long run because we know that rehabilitating and rebuilding their communities will not be an easy task.”
Meanwhile, Bautista said that all 142 barangay chairs may each sponsor a barangay in the towns of Palampon, Tolosa and Sta. Fe in Leyte to help them rebuild in the aftermath of the monster cyclone “Yolanda.”
He explained: “The gesture is one way of saying that Quezon City, from local executives down to the barangay level, is one and united in the effort of helping these typhoon-ravaged localities recover from the devastation.”
The mayor said that sponsorship may be determined by raffle as he assured Quezon City barangays that no big projects would be required under the scheme, “only that we take part in their rehabilitation.”
The Quezon City government has donated P50 million to 44 provinces devastated by Supertyphoon Yolanda for the development of infrastructure, particularly school buildings, health centers, public markets and municipal halls.
Likewise, Bautista has instructed city budget officer Marian Orayani, city planning and development office chief Tomasito Cruz and city engineer Joselito Cabungcal to conduct a review of the budget and development plans for Tolosa, Palompon and Sta. Fe to see how Quezon City could help these areas further.