QC adopts 2 more Leyte towns hit by ‘Yolanda’

The Quezon City government will “adopt” two more towns in the “Yolanda”-ravaged province of Leyte—the municipalities of Matag-ob and Albuera—three months after it started pouring aid into the devastated province.

In a statement on Saturday, Mayor Herbert Bautista said this was in response to the request of Leyte Rep. Lucy Torres-Gomez and Quezon City Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte-Alimurung.

Matag-ob is a fourth-class municipality with 21 barangays and a population of 17,089, according to a 2010 census, while Albuera is a third-class municipality with 17 barangays and a population of 40,553.

The Quezon City government earlier extended assistance to its adopted towns of Palompon, Sta. Fe and Tolosa, donating relief goods, equipment and funds for the rebuilding of key infrastructure such as school buildings, health centers, public markets and municipal halls.

Bautista also disclosed the Quezon City Liga ng mga Barangay also decided to adopt the three towns.

“We intend to help them in the long term because we know that rehabilitating and rebuilding communities is not be an easy task. It entails a lot of work and planning aside from having enough budget. Surely they could not do this alone due to their present situation, with no revenues left in their coffers,” the mayor said. Julie Aurelio