In visit to areas hit by ‘Seniang,’ VP brings aid, bad news

A GIRL eats guava as she waits for her parents to get food ration from the local government of Ronda town in Cebu province, one of the areas worst hit by Tropical Depression “Seniang.” The local government distributed food a few days before the visit of Vice President Jejomar Binay. TONEE DESPOJO/CEBU DAILY NEWS

RONDA, CEBU—The only national government official who came to visit survivors of Tropical Depression “Seniang” in the town worst hit by days of rain and flooding, tried to buoy hopes by saying help is coming.

Vice President Jejomar Binay, saying funds for housing had been depleted as it was yearend, told residents of this town that cash would be given instead of housing materials that would help the people rebuild their homes.

During his visit, Binay gave assurances that the assistance would arrive, though he could not be specific on how much and when.

“We’ll see how much we can give but we promised the mayor that we will be giving cash assistance,” said the Vice President in a talk with reporters following the ceremonial distribution of relief goods to the storm victims.

Binay is concurrent chair of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), the agency that oversees and coordinates plans and programs in the housing sector. The HUDCC is composed of various agencies, including the National Housing Authority.

Most of the deaths in the province of Cebu due to Seniang came from this town, some 80 kilometers from Cebu City.

Thirteen people, mostly members of the Bahinting family, were killed after they were swept by floodwaters. Two others, three-year-old Joyce Bahinting and one-month-old Ace Faunillan, are still missing.

Ronda Mayor Mariano Blanco III said his town needs construction materials for at least 48 families who lost their houses to the flooding. Funds are also needed for repairs on 98 houses that had been damaged, he added.

The town, a fifth class municipality, has a calamity fund of only P1.8 million which the mayor said was not enough for its 14 villages with a population of 18,000.

Binay came to the wake of the Bahinting family at the chapel of the village of Liboo. It was in the village where five members of the Bahinting family died and two others went missing.

The Vice President was seen handing out envelopes containing cash to family members during the wake.

He proceeded to the town proper where he also handed cash to the daughter of another victim, Bienvenido Batomalaque, and at least 1,800 packs of relief goods to residents in the villages of Palanas, Poblacion, Tupas, Liboo and Ilaya.

From Ronda, Binay proceeded to Dumanjug town, one of the towns southwest of Cebu that was also hit by Seniang.

In Dumanjug, the Vice President distributed 1,500 relief packs and was joined by Cebu Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia, an ally in the United Nationalist Alliance, along with her brother Mayor Nelson Garcia.

Dumanjug is the hometown of the Garcia clan where their patriarch, former Deputy Speaker Pablo Garcia, grew up.

Binay was treated to a “boodle fight” lunch of roasted native chicken, fish soup and grilled fish at the town’s public market.

He also distributed 1,500 relief packs to residents of Sibonga town and Carcar City.

Seniang also destroyed or damaged crops as flooding hit the Visayas hard.

In Western Visayas, the cost of damage to agriculture was estimated to be at least P102 million, according to a report of the Office of Civil Defense.

Seniang damaged or destroyed 7,973 hectares of palay farms in the Visayas, most of them in Capiz province.

Eleven of 16 municipalities of Capiz were flooded and three children drowned in separate cases in the towns of Sigma, Sapian and Dao on Dec. 31 at the height of Seniang.

Another fatality in the region was a crew member of a barge who drowned after the barge ran aground in Tobias Fornier town in Antique on Dec. 26. With a report from Nestor P. Burgos Jr., Inquirer Visayas