Solon: Adopt a family in north Cebu

Rep. Benhur Salimbangon of Cebu’s fourth district is encouraging the public to “adopt a family” in northern Cebu.

Speaking before the 888 News Forum last Tuesday, Salimbangon encouraged donations of roofing sheets, plywood and lumber to help typhoon victims rebuild their homes.

“The people won’t be able to go back to their normal lives until they can have their homes back. Fishermen can’t fish and farmers can’t farm if they are still worrying about their homes. I’m appealing to Cebuanos to give roofing sheets, plywood and lumber as Christmas gifts for the families who now have no homes,” Salimbangon said.

Marcial Fernandez, assistant regional director of the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Central Visayas (DSWD-7), gave an assurance to help by giving P6,000 emergency shelter assistance per family in the affected areas.

According to an assessment conducted by his office, Salimbangon said a total of 48,000 families in his district were affected by supertyphoon Yolanda.

A total of 61 casualties have been reported while 13 are still missing.

There are also 54,678 houses destroyed, while 13,689 have been partially damaged. An initial P300 million worth of infrastructure damage was also reported.

Salimbangon said he was called by Budget Secretary Florencio Abad to submit an assessment report so that Cebu’s fourth district can have an allocation inserted in the P14.6 billion supplemental budget passed by Congress as aid to typhoon-hit areas.

“I don’t think we can fully recover in the next three to four months. Hopefully in one year we can get up again,” he said.