Bulk of Davao aid to ‘Nina’ survivors goes to CamSur

Residents of Tiwi town in Albay province wash their flooded belongings in river water diverted to a road after Typhoon “Nina” hit the Bicol region on Christmas Day. —GEORGE GIO BRONDIAL

DAVAO CITY—The city government has earmarked P7.47 million, or a bulk of its P11 million aid to victims of Typhoon “Nina,” (international name: Nock-ten) to the worst hit province of Camarines Sur.

In a special session held last week, the Davao City council also allotted P1.3 million for Albay province, P1.065 million for Catanduanes province and P1.165 million for Calapan City in Oriental Mindoro province.

Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte said the aid would be delivered to the concerned local governments either in cash or check.

The council unanimously approved the resolution that paved the way for Davao to draw the money from its calamity fund so it could extend help to typhoon victims in the Bicol and Southern Tagalog provinces.

This was after Mayor Sara Duterte asked the council to hold a special session to tackle the proposed P11-million “prompt and immediate aid” for typhoon victims.

Vice Mayor Duterte said Davao was in a position to send aid because the city still has unused appropriation from its annual calamity fund.

This is not the first time the city government extended financial aid to calamity-stricken areas outside the city.

In October, the Davao government sent P5 million to areas hit by Typhoon “Lawin” (international name: Haima).

When he was still Davao mayor in 2015, President Duterte also delivered P11 million to local governments in the provinces of Sorsogon and Oriental Mindoro, which were devastated by Typhoon “Nona” (international name: Melor).

The city government also sent P8-million worth of aid to areas devastated by Supertyphoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in 2013; and financial assistance to victims of Typhoon Pablo (Bopha, 2012) and Tropical Storm Sendong (Washi, 2011) in Mindanao. —ALLAN NAWAL